By Edzorna Francis Mensah
The Divisional Chairman of Public Service Workers Union of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has sent a congratulatory message to Ghanaian workers and called for unity among workers.
As hundreds of Ghanaian Workers joined the rest of the world to mark this year’s Workers Day, The Union Chairman, for EPA, Godsway Lawson Daniels asked all workers especially Public Service Workers to remain committed to their callings in the interest of mother Ghana for growth and development.
In an exclusive interview, he acknowledged the fact that, “as workers, we’ve come too far to renege on our promise and dedication to work to build a country we all aspired to see in the near future.
He said, workers should not lose sight of their role of protecting the environment and the ecosystem at large for sustenance.
According to Mr. Daniels, “green environment is key and all must guide against indiscriminate cutting down of trees” and “we must practice afforestation even in our homes to prevent the further depletion of the ozone layer”.
“As workers with diverse backgrounds, it is important that we use our expertise to promote good governance in our workplaces and, to also support the state to eradicate extreme poverty in our society,” he admonished.
He however, appealed to the Trade Union Congress and the other stakeholders to protect the interest of Ghanaian workers at all time and make sure a Ghanaian worker operates in an environment conducive enough for a worker to give out all his and her best.
Background
International Workers’ Day, also known as Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every year on 1 May, or the first Monday in May.
Traditionally, 1 May is the date of the European spring festival of May Day. In 1889, the Marxist International Socialist Congress met in Paris and established the Second International as a successor to the earlier International Workingmen’s Association.
They adopted a resolution for a “great international demonstration” in support of working-class demands for the eight-hour day. The 1 May date was chosen by the American Federation of Labor to commemorate a general strike in the United States, which had begun on 1 May 1886 and culminated in the Haymarket affair four days later. The demonstration subsequently became a yearly event.
The 1904 Sixth Conference of the Second International, called on “all Social Democratic Party organisations and trade unions of all countries to demonstrate energetically on the First of May for the legal establishment of the eight-hour day, for the class demands of the proletariat, and for universal peace”
