The Secretary-General of the Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL), Abraham Koomson, has claimed that his agitation and the efforts of the Textile Union were instrumental in ending the Trades Union Congress (TUC)’s monopoly over organised labour in Ghana, paving the way for the emergence of multiple labour unions in the country.

According to him, the Industrial Relations Act of 1965 granted the TUC exclusive recognition to represent workers, a situation he said was intended to preserve the Congress’s influence because of its role in Ghana’s independence struggle.

Mr Koomson, however, alleged that some TUC leaders abused the monopoly and failed to adequately address workers’ grievances, even as companies struggled and businesses shut down.

Speaking on Ahotor FM’s Yepe Ahunu programme on Saturday, October 10, he explained that the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention also opposed the restrictive legal framework and put pressure on the government to amend the law to allow other labour organisations to operate.

He said his frustrations grew when he rose through the ranks of the TUC and began raising concerns about workers’ conditions, but the leadership at the time allegedly paid little attention to his demands.

“I realised that the leadership was not representing the interests of workers,” he indicated, explaining that this prompted him to intensify his campaign for reforms in the country’s labour relations framework.

Textile Union and the fight for labour pluralism

Mr Koomson recounted that even before the legal reforms, efforts had been made to establish independent unions outside the TUC’s structure.

He said the Textile Union was registered in 1993, despite resistance to the emergence of organisations operating independently of the Congress, which then had 17 national unions.

He added that they subsequently applied to affiliate with the TUC as its 18th national union but was rejected because, in his view, the leadership considered him troublesome and feared he would create problems within the organisation.

Following the rejection, he said he and his colleagues intensified their campaign to dismantle the legal barriers that restricted workers’ freedom to organise.

Mr Koomson attributed the eventual passage of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), to the struggle he led with the Textile Union and other labour groups. The law established a new framework for labour relations in Ghana and enabled a wider range of unions to organise and represent workers.

He argued that the reforms created opportunities for professional and occupational groups, including the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Pre-Tertiary Teachers’ Association of Ghana (PRETAG), nurses and civil servants, to organise and pursue collective bargaining rights.

“If not for Abraham Koomson and his Textile Union, NAGRAT wouldn’t have been there, PRETAG wouldn’t have come, the nurses couldn’t have had the certificate to negotiate, and civil servants could not negotiate. I did it; I led that struggle to break the monopoly because of the way they were behaving,” he said.

Claims of threats and intimidation

The GFL Secretary-General further alleged that his campaign to end the TUC’s dominance exposed him to threats and intimidation.

He claimed that his car was hit on the motorway and somersaulted, adding that those responsible believed he had died and subsequently visited hospitals in search of him.

Abraham Koomson blames TUC for proliferation of unions

Despite defending the reforms that opened up the labour movement, Mr Koomson acknowledged that the emergence of numerous unions has also created challenges.

He estimated that Ghana currently has nearly 200 unions and suggested that the proliferation of labour organisations was not necessarily a positive development.

However, he maintained that the TUC’s own decisions contributed significantly to the situation, arguing that a more accommodating approach to independent labour groups could have prevented the emergence of multiple labour centres.

He said the TUC had since regretted its decision not to admit the GFL as an affiliate, although he proceeded to organise other groups to establish the federation as Ghana’s second labour centre.

Mr Koomson insisted that the development of labour pluralism in Ghana was not accidental but the result of a deliberate struggle to expand workers’ freedom of association and collective representation.

He maintained that the history of the country’s multiple labour unions could not be told without acknowledging his role and that of the Textile Union in challenging the TUC’s former dominance.