GMWU members protest government’s contract mining policy in Akyem Abirem

Members of the Ghana Mineworkers' Union (GMWU) in the Akyem Branch staged a protest at Akyem Abirem in the Birim North Municipality of the Eastern Region. The demonstration was against the government's contract mining policy, which the union's chairman, Nicholas Kyei Badu, said could compromise workers' job security, welfare, and existing conditions of service.

Badu emphasized that contract mining could expose mineworkers to precarious work arrangements such as fixed-term contracts, casual employment, and disguised employment. He warned that the policy could lead to reduced wages, allowances, bonuses, and other benefits, weaken trade union representation, and endanger working conditions.

Union members expressed concerns that the contract mining policy could result in cuts to wages, allowances, bonuses and other conditions of service, as well as undermine pension contributions, provident funds, gratuities, and other social protection benefits. They feared that the policy could increase job insecurity, weaken collective bargaining, and expose employees to unsafe working conditions, threatening the economic security of families and communities that rely on mining for their livelihoods.

The union presented a petition to the Birim North Municipal Assembly and the Member of Parliament for the area, urging the government to reconsider the policy. The GMWU demanded the immediate suspension of the contract mining directive, intervention from the Ministry to halt the Minerals Commission's directive requiring mining companies to transition to contract mining by December 2026, and meaningful stakeholder engagement to protect workers' welfare, job security, and conditions of service before implementing any such policy.