Members of Parliament have sent congratulatary message to all Ghanaian workers as they join the rest of the world to mark 2020 May Day.
The MPs, in contributing to the statement made by the Minister of Employment and Labour Relation on The Floor saluted Health Workers, the Media and other supporting workers during this period of the deadly coronavirus.
In his statement, the Sector Minister, Ignatius Baffour Awuah charged all employers to provide the requisite Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and related facilities for the safety and health of workers, in compliance with World Health Organisation (WHO) safety protocols and Ministry of Health (MoH) guidelines.
He again called on Employers to constitute Safety Committees to deal with all issues related to Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) at workplaces.
According to him, Employers should appoint Focal Persons to facilitate education of workers on the COVID-19. Such Focal Persons will also have the responsibility of liaising with health professionals in the event of an outbreak of the virus at the workplace.
He said Employers should create an enabling environment for social distancing at workplaces and encourage their staff who can work from home to do so.
He further said that Unions should collaborate with employers to ensure that workers comply with and observe strictly the WHO and Ministry of Health enhanced hygiene and safety protocols; including wearing of face masks.
He further admonished Local Unions to educate workers on the shared responsibility of promoting personal safety to avoid spread of the COVID1 9 at the workplace by wearing face masks and ensuring personal and workplace hygiene at all times.
May Day is a day set aside all over the world to commemorate the efforts of workers.
It is a day full of history and symbolism for Workers’ solidarity and the struggle for decent working conditions.
The celebration of the day which was originally steeped in religious traditions subsequently developed into a secular celebration centred on labour, farmers and cycle of seasons.
It continued to be a civic celebration and developed further into a festival for labourers and farmers. This has metamorphosed over the centuries to include all workers formal and informal in the celebration of the day.
Over time, this day has been associated with the call for social justice with the , adoption of the ILO 10th May, 1944 Philadephia Declaration which defines a set of principles with human rights at the centre of labour aspirations i.e labour not being a commodity, freedom of expression and association being essential for sustained progress, poverty anywhere constituting a danger to prosperity everywhere amongst others.
Story filed by Edzorna Francis Mensah
