Give us fair deal-TUC

Page- Centre Spread, April 24, 2008
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE acting Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Mr Kofi Asamoah, has called for a fair deal for Africa in the ongoing negotiation of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between developing countries and the European Union (EU).
He said since the EPAs had far-reaching consequences for working people, employment, as well as incomes and poverty, a careful analysis should be done before African leaders appended their signatures to the agreement.
Mr Asamoah, who was speaking when the President of the Republic of Finland, Madam Tarja Halonen, paid a courtesy call on officials of the TUC, appealed to her to use her influence in the EU to ensure a fair deal.
Madam Halonen, who was a unionist before becoming President eight years ago, is participating in the ongoing United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) conference.
Touching on Official Development Assistance (ODA) to developing countries, Mr Asamoah said the union was aware that the third high level forum on aid effectiveness was scheduled to take place in Accra in September this year.
He said that meeting would be a follow-up to an earlier one in Paris where stakeholders adopted the Paris Declaration which sought to achieve aid effectiveness through country ownership, harmonisation of aid procedures, mutual accountability between recipients and donor countries, among others.
Mr Asamoah noted that although those were important principles that should guide aid, the TUC was of the opinion that donor countries should commit at least 0.7 per cent of their Gross National Product (GDP) to international development.
He referred to the work of the Finnish President when she was a lawyer to the National Trade Union Centre of Finland and said that the union was aware of her interest in labour and human right issues.
Mr Asamoah said Madam Halonen’s participation in UNCTAD XII bore testimony to her government’s commitment to development issues, particularly in Africa.
He said the courtesy call also demonstrated the President’s commitment to the trade union movement, not only in Finland but also in Africa.
Mr Asamoah told her that despite difficulties that the TUC had encountered since its establishment 63 years ago, the movement had survived as a result of continued support from its European counterparts in the spirit of trade union solidarity.
He said the TUC had a long-standing co-operation with Finland through that country’s trade union, saying that the Trade Union Solidarity Centre had been supporting the union in the areas of workers’ education, training, research and policy analysis.
Replying, Madam Halonen recognised the need for the adoption of good policies that would ensure the welfare of vulnerable groups and called for collaboration between developing and developed countries to ensure sustainable development.
He stated that Finland’s success hinged on the investment it had made in its citizens through education and called on African countries to invest in their human resource.
Madam Halonen, who is in the second year of her second six-year term as President, called on trade unionists to be interested in the rights and welfare of their members.
The Chairman of the TUC, Mr Alex Bonney, later presented a number of items, including a Kente cloth and the 60th anniversary shield of the union, to her.