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As the coronavirus pandemic rages, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) on Friday called on the government to quickly develop and implement a holistic economic response strategy to deal with the impact of the pandemic.
The Secretary-General of the TUC, Dr Yaw Baah, speaking at the virtual celebration of the International Workers’ Day, also known as May Day, said such a strategy would require stabilisation and stimulus packages for businesses and households to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the economy.

Format

The virtual celebration, which was broadcast live on Ghana Television, was a specially arranged May Day event at which very few people were admitted in response to the public gathering ban and social distancing directive.

The theme for the event was: “COVID-19 In Ghana: Impact On Employment and Working Conditions.”

Impact

Across the world, economies have shrunk as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

On March 30, 2020, the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, delivered a statement to Parliament on the “Economic Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Economy of Ghana, where he painted an unpleasant picture of the impact of the pandemic.

He said there was likely to be a significant slowdown in our GDP growth, significant shortfalls in petroleum revenues, shortfalls in import duties, shortfalls in other tax revenues, increased health expenditures and tighter financing conditions with consequences on the 2020 budget.

Already, the pandemic is causing tremendous negative impacts on businesses with cascading effects on workers.

Some workers have been asked to stay home without salaries while others have had their salaries cut because their employers are running at a loss.

Devastating effects

Dr Baah said an ongoing research by the Labour Research and Policy Institute of TUC pointed to a dire consequence for the country in the coming years, in view of the ravaging nature of the coronavirus.

“Brothers and sisters, the disease has been with us just for about two months, but the devastation it has caused to our economy and social lives, it will take years to restore,” he pointed out.

He mentioned that “a company which exports drinks has lost tons of its raw materials including mangoes, pineapple, pawpaw because it cannot export due to border closures around the world. All casual and contract workers have been laid off. The company has also stopped all overtime work. As a result, workers’ incomes have reduced drastically. The company is struggling to pay workers, pay social security, pay taxes and repay bank loans.”

Again, the TUC boss said a company in the fisheries subsector in Tema had reduced its staff strength on daily shift because of the compliance with the social distancing rules.

He said a real estate company had also asked its workers to go home with 50 per cent salary.

The story, he said, was no better in the hospitality industry, where the effects had been even more devastating with hundreds of workers losing their jobs.

“The few who are lucky to keep their jobs have suffered pay cuts because of reduction in hours or days of work,” he added.

Good start

Although Dr Baah said the GH¢600 million announced by the government as a stimulus was a good start, he added that more support was needed for businesses.

“In order to avoid serious supply chain disruptions, government should identify and support local enterprises that produce raw materials that can feed local industries.

Government should arrange with commercial banks to ensure that businesses are allowed by banks to access credit facilities under more flexible conditions,” Dr Baah said.

Dr Baah said the TUC believed that the strategy it was proposing to the government, combined with tax reliefs for workers, would help mitigate the economic impact of the health crisis, adding that the workers were ready to play their role as social partners in the economic recovery efforts.

Health workers

Dr Baah commended health workers at the frontline of the fight against the coronavirus for the great work they were doing.

“You are risking your lives every day to protect us. We thank you and wish you God’s blessings. The media, utility workers, security services, as well as research and scientific institutions (Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research, National Public Reference Laboratory) and other workers and institutions providing essential services are helping us to manage the crisis. We are heavily indebted to you. May God bless you!,” he said.

He said as workers celebrated the day, they needed to remember the unsung heroes who led the struggle to free all from forced labour, long hours of work and slave wages.

Bold decisions

Dr Baah commended the government for the able manner in which it had handled the pandemic.

“Since the first two cases of coronavirus infection were detected in Ghana, we have all been witnesses to the effort our government has made to protect us from this dangerous virus. The bold measures government has taken have included a ban on public gatherings, closure of schools and universities, closure of our borders and the imposition of restrictions on movements of persons in Accra and Kumasi,” he said.

GBC commended

On behalf of the working people of Ghana, Dr Baah thanked the Director-General of GBC, Prof. Amin Alhassan, and his team for making the virtual celebration possible, and also thanked President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for honouring the invitation to the programme.