Koforidua, Aug. 22, GNA - The Deputy General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress(TUC), Operations, Mr Kofi Asamoah, has called on labour leaders at all levels to make their unions attractive to new members since the Labour Law did not allow automatic union membership on the appointment of staff.

He, therefore, asked them to spread their membership drive to the non-organized workers in the informal sector if the TUC was to maintain its status as the leadership for organized labour in the country. Mr. Asamoah was opening a three-day workshop at Koforidua on Monday for trade union negotiators of the TUC under the GTUC/UNDP/ Government of Ghana Project on consolidating democratic governance.

On the effects of globalisation and neo-liberal economic regime on the country, he cited the collapsing textile and poultry industries and the flooding of the local market with cheap and mostly inferior foreign goods, which, he noted, was also leading to massive retrenchment of labour and consequent loss of trade union membership strength. Mr Asamoah also drew their attention to the provisions of the Labour Law and asked the participants to be conversant with them in order to guide them in their conduct of negotiations.

Ms Josephine Abakah, Head of Education and Training of the TUC, in her welcoming address, said the workshop was meant to strengthen their work as negotiators to enable them to obtain satisfactory conditions of service for their membership during Collective Bargaining negotiations.