Ghana Mine Workers Union

Golden Pride Head Office, Obuasi

70 years of playing a progressive role to promote a just and equitable society

The Ghana Mineworkers’ Union (GMWU) is a strong, democratic and independent trade union organisation affiliated locally to the Ghana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) and internationally to the Industrial Global Union based in Geneva, Switzerland.

It was founded on 7 June 1944 in Abosso near Tarkwa.

Key functions of the Union are:

1.    Collective Bargaining

2.    Advocacy

3.    Research and Planning

4.    Training and Education

5.    Organising and Recruitment

The Union has strong internal democratic structures that govern its operations and is headed by an elected General Secretary, assisted by two elected officers and a team of technical staff.

Membership

Current membership strength of the Union stands at 16,047, representing senior and junior workers in the mining sector of Ghana. GMWU organises in about 90 per cent of the mining companies in Ghana. Besides its core responsibility of ensuring that its members and their families have better living conditions, the Union also engages in policy dialogue with other stakeholders in the mining industry to ensure that mining serves the interests of the communities, mining companies and the country.

The Union is currently faced with dwindling membership through redundancies, which mining employers have attributed to the downturn of the price of gold. Within a span of 15 months, the Union has lost 16.1% of its membership. GMWU has challenged the moral and ethical business conscience of mining employers on this stance and has called on them to diagnose all the cost drivers and holistically deal with all the elements that contribute to operational costs instead of focusing only on job cuts as the primary business sustainability measure.

Business interests

GMWU has positioned itself beyond the trade union world, and it now owns varying business interests. A recent example is the establishment of Golden Pride Savings and Loans Company Limited, set up to offer flexible banking products, financial advisory and literacy support to meet the banking needs of the Union’s members and their families. The company employs about 60 people and has its ultra-modern headquarters and one other branch located in mining communities.

Another branch was recently opened in the capital city, Accra. The ultimate aim of the Union is to enter the universal banking industry.

Community support

GWMU through its international trade union partners is executing a two year (2014-2015) community economic empowerment project for miners’ wives of the Obuasi community to offer them economic skills that support their families.

The Union has also been concerned with the increasing occurrence of illegal mining and its negative consequences on all actors of the mining industry, the community and the environment. The Union has therefore called on the government to employ a more sustainable action to uproot this canker.

Celebrating 70 years

The Union celebrates its 70th anniversary this year and has lined up a number of community development initiatives, including providing increased logistical support to a local community hospital.

• Vice-President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur (right) and Golden Pride Managing Director, Mr Johnson Asamoah Boadi

In pursuance of its mission of protecting and advancing the socio-economic interests of its members, the Union has invested over the years its funds in various business ventures, either on its own or through the Labour Enterprise Trust (LET) Company Limited and the Ghana Trades Union Congress. In August 2011, the GMWU incorporated the GOLDEN PRIDE SAVINGS AND LOANS LTD (GPSL) for a proposed savings and loans project to be licensed under the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Law, 1993 PNDCL 328. GPSL is therefore 100% owned by GMWU.

MISSION
To be sustainable, promoting wealth creation through quality and competitive financial solutions to clients within the mining community and beyond, while contributing to the well-being of our staff, their families and the community at large.

VISION
To become the preferred SME banking partner with relevant products, creating wealth and improving livelihoods within and beyond Ghana.

Our core values are:

• Creativity
• Friendship
• Patience
• Honesty
• Integrity
• Partnership
• Competitiveness
• Reliability
• Quality

The GPSL is governed by a seven-member Board of Directors comprising seasoned Bankers, Trade Unionists, Accountants and Economists.

Prince William Ankrah, Charman

Prince William Ankrah, Chairman
Prince William Ankrah is a Trade Unionist and an industrial/labour relations specialist with a strong appetite for success and challenging initiatives. He is the General Secretary of Ghana Mineworkers Union (GMWU) of the Ghana Trade Union Congress (GTUC). He is 54 years old and a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, United Kingdom. He has a postgraduate degree in Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management from Warwick Business School, United Kingdom.

Currently, the Union is engaged in a national campaign that affects the mining economy of Ghana:

• A well-structured, sustainable development agenda by the mining industry.
• A well-regulated, corporate social responsibility arrangement.
• Effective utilisation of mining royalties and receipts for infrastructural development in mining communities.
• Introduction of special windfall taxes on mining companies and other extractive industries.
• The ratification of ILO Convention 176 which deals with safety and health in the mines.
• Critical skills shortage and skills flight in the mining industry.
• Huge income inequalities to bridge the pay inequities in the mining industry.

The Union has established the Golden Pride Savings and Loans Company to cultivate the habit of saving among mineworkers and also to offer them loans at a reduced interest rate. GWMU is a major shareholder in Labour Enterprise Trust (LET), established by the Ghana Trades Union Congress. The Union is also a shareholder in Bayport Financial Services.

GWMU has lined up a number of future initiatives, notably the establishment of community information technology centres in the two major mining communities at Obuasi and Tarkwa, to build and increase capacities and ICT skills of members and their families through links with overseas colleges and universities. Another future initiative is Community Entrepreneurial Skills Development to provide an alternative livelihood to support family members and in particularly their spouses.

Ghana Mineworkers’ Union of TUCG
Office of the General Secretary
Hall of Trade Unions,
off Barnes and Liberia Roads,
Tudu
P.O. Box 701,
Accra
Ghana

Tel/Fax: +233 302 66 5563

Email: gsoffice@ghanamineworkersunion.org, gmwu_gtuc@yahoo.co.uk

Web: www.gmwu.org