The Ghana Trades Union Congress is a national centre that unites various workers' organizations in Ghana. The organization was established in 1945.

History The GTUC as a central co-ordinating body for 14 union groups in 1945. The unions were registered under the Trade Union Ordinance of 1941. In 1954, the union proposed that the local unions be amalgamated along industrial groupings to make the union strong. The proposal was approved in 1955. The union had 24 member unions in 1958 and was regulated by the Industrial Relations Act 56. The first elections of the GTUC was held in 1966 after Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana was overthrown. The election was conducted to replace the union leaders who were under detention under the National Liberation Council. In 1971, the GTUC was dissolved as the sole trades union congress after parliament, led by the Busia government, passed Act 383. The Act was repealed by the I.K. Acheampong government in the same year. The union's executives were replaced in a "coup d'etat" in 1983 by an Interim Management Committee at the instance of the Association of Local Unions (ALU) of the Greater Accra Region. The union in 1984 held it national congress to restore it existence and restored its constitutionality.

Membership The membership of the organization is made up of all workers' group. A local union is formed by any five members at a work place. Various local groups which share common objectives form a national group - a local group. The local union upon formally registering with the TUC is admitted as a member of the group.

Functions The union's functions include: protecting the collective bargaining rights of member unions under it advocacy and policy intervention concerning labour market and national issues that concerns its members.

Affiliates In 2007, the member strength of the union was about 350,000 members, which had grown to 479,270 by 2018. As of that date, the following unions were affiliated:

Union Abbreviation Founded Membership (1985) Membership (2018) Cocoa Research Workers' Union CRWU N/A 1,000 Communications Workers' Union CWU 1958 7,000 2,881Figure is for 2012: Construction and Building Materials Workers' Union CBMWU 1954 39,553 10,000 Federation of Universities Senior Staff Association of Ghana FUSSAG 1972 2,262 General Agricultural Workers' Union GAWU 1959 100,000 50,000 General Construction, Manufacturing and Quarries Workers' Union GCMQWU N/A 5,167 General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers' Union GTPCWU 1967 29,185 7,500 Ghana Mine Workers' Union GMWU 1944 27,018 20,000 Ghana Private Road Transport Union GPRTU 1967 56,138 120,000 Health Services Workers' Union HSWU 1965 30,000 28,811 Local Government Workers' Union LGWU 1956 35,000 10,000 Maritime and Dockworkers' Union MDU 1956 31,085 10,000 National Union of Seamen, Ports and Allied Workers NUSPAW 1940 5,011 1,500 Public Services Workers' Union PSWU 1959 63,000 24,000 Public Utility Workers' Union PUWU 1967 20,000 10,288 Railway Enginemen's Union REU 1951 898 300 Railway Workers' Union RWU 1926 8,955 1,342 Teachers' and Educational Workers' Union TEWU 1962 40,000 60,000 Timber and Woodworkers' Union TWU 1952 18,000 8,400 Union of Industry, Commerce and Finance UNICOF 2003 N/A 12,000 Union of Informal Workers Associations UNIWA 2013 N/A 87,000

Former affiliates Union Abbreviation Left Reason not affiliated Membership (1958) Accra Municipal Workers' Union 2,800 Agriculture Department Employees' Union 1959 Merged into GAWU 5,958 Airways Workers' Union 98 Amalgamated Civil Engineering and Woodworkers' Union ACEWU Bank of British West Africa Employees' Union 850 Barclays' Bank Staff Union 121 Cape Coast Municipal Workers' Union 198 Cocoa Purchasing Company Employees' Union 476 Compagnie Français de l'Afrique Occidentale Employees' Union 1,500 Commercial and Allied Workers' Union 1960 Merged into ICU 3,000 Cooks' and Stewards' Union of Western Province 1956 Merged into MDU N/A Co-operative Movement Union 600 Eastern Province Cooks' and Stewards' Union 1956 Merged into MDU N/A Elder Dempster Lines Dockworkers' Union 1956 Merged into MDU N/A Elder Dempster Lines Workers' Union 1956 Merged into MDU N/A G. B. Ollivant Employees' Union 800 General Engineering Construction Employees' Union Merged into ACEWU N/A Ghana Broadcasting Employees' Union 1959 Merged into PSWU 507 Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board Employees' Union 30 Ghana Government Electrical Workers' Union 997 Ghana Government Transport Employees' Union 840 Ghana Housing Employees' Union 1956 Merged into CBMWU 184 Ghana Maritime Workers' Union 1956 Merged into MDU N/A Ghana Masons' Union 1956 Merged into CBMWU 46 Ghana Meteorological Employees' Staff Union 1959 Merged into PSWU 200 Ghana Military Civil Employees' Union 200 Ghana Motor Drivers' Union 1967 Merged into GPRTU 6,236 Ghana Post Office African Employees' Union 1958 Merged into CWU 550 Ghana Societe Commerciale Oriental Afrique Employees' Union 900 Ghana Taxi Drivers' Union 200 Ghana Union of Teachers GUT 1962 Dissolved 2,349 Ghana Water Works African Employees' Union 508 Gold Coast National Union of Teachers NUT 1956 Merged into GUT N/A Gold Coast Teachers' Union GCTU 1956 Merged into GUT N/A Health and General Hospital Workers' Union HGHWU 1964 Merged into HSWU N/A ICT and General Services Workers Employees' Union N/A Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union ICU 2003 Disaffiliated N/A Industrial Development Corporation Employees' Union Merged into ACEWU N/A Kumasi Municipal Workers' Union 2,453 National Seamen and Dock Workers' Union 1956 Merged into MDU N/A National Union of Domestic, Restaurant, Bar and Hotel Workers 1,105 National Union of Ghana Oil Workers 800 Postal Engineering Workers' Union 1958 Merged into CWU 1,592 Post and Telegraph Aeradio Employees' Union 100 Public Works Department Employees' Union 18,568 Sekondi Takoradi Municipal Workers' Union 600 Survey Department Employees' Union 296 Taylor Woodrow African Employees' Union Merged into ACEWU N/A Teamsters' and Private Transport Workers' Union 1962 N/A Transport and Telecommunications Workers' Union N/A Union of Catering Trades N/A Union of Teachers and Educational Institution Workers UTEIW 1962 Dissolved N/A University College of Ghana Employees' Union 500 West African Cocoa Research Institute Workers' Union 1959 Merged into GAWU 567 West African Graphic Employees' Union 300

International affiliations The federation affiliated to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) in the early 1950s, and in 1957, it hosted the founding conference of the ICFTU African Regional Organisation. The country's membership of the Non-Aligned Movement, and the ICFTU's opposition to the TUC spending money on a new Trades Hall building, led the TUC to resign from the ICFTU in 1959. It retained informal links with some ICFTU affiliates, and rejoined the ICFTU in 1966. Today it is affiliated with International Trade Union Confederation, the successor of ICFTU.

The GTUC is affiliated with various international trade union organizations, including the Organisation of Trade Unions of West Africa (OTUWA).

Leadership Secretaries-General 1945: Manfred Gaisie 1947: Anthony Woode 1950: Charles Techie-Menson 1952: A. Allotey Moffatt 1953: E. C. Turkson-Ocran 1954: John Kofi Barku Tettegah 1959: Joe-Fio N. Meyer 1960: John Kofi Barku Tettegah 1962: Sylvanus D. Magnus-George (acting) 1964: Kwaw Ampah 1966: Benjamin Bentum 1972: Alhaji Issifu 1982: J. R. Baiden 1982: Interim committee 1983: Augustus Yankey 1993: Christian Appiah-Agyei 2000: Kwasi Adu-Amankwah 2008: Kofi Asamoah 2016: Anthony Yaw Baah

Chairs 1945: Charles Techie-Menson 1948: J. C. Vandyck 1950: J. N. Sam 1952: Larbi Odam 1953: F. E. Techie-Menson 1956: Joe-Fio N. Meyer 1958: D. K. Foevie 1964: Benjamin Bentum 1966: E. O. Amoah 1983: E. K. Aboagye 1988: Dennis Vormawor 1992: Alex K. Bonney 2012: Georgina Opoku Amankwah 2016: Richard Kwasi Yeboah 2021: Alex Nyarko-Opoku

References