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The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has stated that decent employment or the lack of it remains one of the most significant economic and social problems in the country, the latter having the potential to transform into a political issue if unchecked.
Addressing various unions and organised labour groups to mark this year’s May Day celebration at the Koforidua Jackson Park in the Eastern Region last Friday, the Secretary-General of TUC, Joshua Ansah, indicated that beyond economic statistics and indicators, it should be recognised that macroeconomic stability was not an end in itself.
He added that "the real test of economic policy is whether it improves the lives of the workers and citizens as a whole”.
"Does it create jobs, raise incomes, secure the future, build sustainable livelihoods? If it does not, then stability, however important, remains incomplete," Mr Ansah said.
The 2026 event was christened: "Pivoting to Growth, Jobs and Sustainable Livelihoods Beyond the Macroeconomic Stability".
The event brought together high-profile government officials such as the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah; the Minister of Labour, Jobs and Employment, Dr Rashid Pelpuo; the Deputy Minister of Finance, Thomas Ampem Nyarko; a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Marrietta Brew; and a member of the Council of State, Evelyn Korang.
Others were metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs), Members of Parliament (MPs), heads of departments, agencies and security services, various unions and organised labour groups from 31 unions, traditional rulers and queenmothers led by the Omanhene of the New Juaben Traditional Area, Daasebre Kwaku Boateng III.
The TUC Secretary-General touched on sensitive issues of the economy that, he said, required the government’s attention.
Mr Ansah said despite consistent growth as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) for four decades, young people educated at great cost to their families could not find jobs commensurate with their education or skills.
The problems, he explained, were exemplified by the fact that young graduates had to wait for five years or more before getting their first job.
"Comrades, economic growth without jobs is exclusion, stability without livelihoods is incomplete, an economy that grows while workers remain insecure is not yet an economy that has fulfilled its social purpose," he stressed.
The Secretary-General of TUC further stated that the answer to all the questions lay in the economic growth the country had pursued in the last four decades and the level and nature of economic growth achieved over the period.
He explained that the neo-liberal economic reforms of the mid-1980s reversed the negative growth of the 1970s and early 1980s.
Mr Ansah said the country, however, failed to transform the structure of the economy in ways that would have produced jobs in sufficient quantities.
He said the government must, therefore, prioritise support to the private sector as a cornerstone of the quest to end the unemployment debacle.
"We support the efforts by the government to directly provide employment to our young people, but in the medium to long term, the private sector is the solution to the employment challenge," he said.
Mr Ansah further urged the government to intervene in the money lending market to bring down the interest rate for traders and private businesses in general.
He said despite the decline in inflation and the Bank of Ghana's prime rate, the lending rate remained high.
The TUC Secretary-General drew the government’s attention to some of the major concerns of workers in the country.
These, he said, included wages and salaries, adding that the TUC welcomed the initiative to establish an independent emolument commission, although it was sceptical about the proposal to implement the new system in phases.
"While this commission can help address the pay inequalities in the public sector, it may not in itself address the old-age problem of low pay," he said.
The Chairman of TUC Ghana, Bernard Owusu, in his welcome address, said the union acknowledged the effort made by the government to restore macroeconomic stability and that such gains were important and provided a foundation for progress.
He said the union was confident that under the leadership of President John Dramani Mahama, job creation and sustainable livelihoods would receive the needed attention in the next phase of economic growth.
