What The Papers Say
Peoples Daily Graphic, Ghana, May 2, 1985
What the workers said
At the May Day celebrations at the Independence Square yesterday, workers carried placards which portray their concerns for the moment. We present unedited, almost all the sayings on the placards.1. WHY THE EXCESSIVE OVERTIME TAX?
2. WATCH! CIA IS BUSY
3. HELP! LOYALTY OF GHANA LTD IS SINKING
4. WE SUPPORT PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY
5. 1985 BUDGET TOO HEAVY A LOAD FOR WORKERS
6. WHEN SHALL WORKERS HAVE A SAY IN GOVT?
7. OVERTIME TAX SHOULD BE WAIVED
8. WORKERS POWER NOW LIMITED
9. MORE SHIPS FOR BSL - DEEP
10. RESTORE THE 25% CEILING SEA, TEMA
11. THE STRUGGLE IS OUR STRUGGLE
12. CONSULTATIONS ARE ADVANTAGEOUS
13. TUC MUST CONTINUE WITH THE STRUGGLE
14. NO MORE DEVALUATION OF THE CEDI
15. THE PEOPLE OR FIGURES, KWESI?
16. LABOUR SECRETARY TOO GOOD
17. WE'LL NOT BE RULED BY IMF
18. WORKERS ARE AGAINST ARBITRARY DISMISSAL
19. HUNGRY WORKERS NO FIT WORK
20. JCC MEANS SLAVERY, IMC MEANS BETTER PARTICIPATION
21. DOWN WITH 10% WAGE FREEZE
22. KNRG BE WARNED
23. NKRUMAH FOR EVER
24. WORKERS, SAVE YOURSELVES
25. PNDC SAVE GIHOC MANUFACTURING LTD
26. FOOD SPECIALITIES IS AGAINST 10%
27. IMF MUST GO. THEY ARE TOO BAD
28. WORKERS SOLIDARITY UNBREAKABLE
29. 18 MONTHS NO PAY FOR FPC WORKERS
30. WE ARE YOUR TEACHERS
31. FOR A HAPPY PROSPEROUS GHANA, PNDC NEEDS OUR SUPPORT - PREFAB
32. FPC FAILURE NOT WORKERS MAKING
33. DO NOT DISMANTLE FPC
34. WORKERS NEED HOUSING
35. DIGNITY OF LABOUR
36. DONATE FOR RESEARCH
37. CIVIL SERVANTS OF GHANA ARE UNITED IN TUC
38. WORKERS OF GHANA UNITED AND FIGHT EXPLOITATION
39. CLOTH ALLOCATION WORKERS MUST ALSO BE CONSIDERED
40. BETTER HEALTH SERVICE NOW
41. MASS MEDIA, MUST BE CAREFUL
42. GOVT REP IN GOVT WHERE ARE YOU?
43. TAX SYSTEM TOO CUMBERSOME
44. DON'T FORGET THE PEOPLE IN DECISION MAKING
45. PNDC WELLDONE IN TRANSPORTATION - STC
46. INVEST IN PREFAB BUILDING
47. CIVIL SERVANTS OF GHANA, STILL MONKEY DE WORK
48. RESPECT THE LABOUR FORCE
49. AWAY WITH IMF
50. ILO CONVENTIONS NOT FOR MUSHROOM ASSOC
51. UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL
52. NO FOOD NO WORK
53. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, WE NO GO SIT DOWN
54. STOP THIS MONKEY DEY WORK BABOON DE CHOP BUSINESS
55. INVOLVE WORKERS IN DECISION-MAKING...
The Guardian, Nigeria, May 9, 1985
The May Day demonstration
On May Day, cross-sections of Nigeria's organised labour force gathered in sports stadia in Lagos and the state capitals to join their counterparts the world over to take part in an annual event: the demonstration of the solidarity, historic conquests and aspirations of the working people. In Lagos, it did not quite work out that way: the "traditional" rally and procession turned into a protest demonstration against both the government and the bureaucracy of the labour movement.It was a singular lesson that May Day has not, after all, degenerated into mere ritual. But the most striking feature of the demonstration in Lagos was that workers chose to confront both their leaders and the government with the same mode and instruments of protest: placards, slogans and songs. It is ironical that labour leaders who were supposed to lead workers' protests stood helplessly beside the government minister as the demonstrations went on; an indication that a wide gulf separated the workers from their leaders.
Hopefully, the lessons of this development will not escape the labour leaders, who ought to accept it in good faith, if they are to make amends and regain the respect of their member unions and workers. What the demonstration meant was that the NLC cannot honestly claim to have exhausted all they can do as a response in terms of suggestions to government, and political action. They can offer practical suggestions on how part of the huge profits which our businessmen and women still make even in these austere times could be appropriated for the rehabilitation of retrenched workers in collective economic projects: agriculture, small-scale industrial production, social services and crafts, to alleviate the sufferings of our teeming unemployed youths, and bring some hope to the workers.
In place of an approach such as this, labour leaders have done little more than repeat promises of NLC-sponsored economic projects an NLC that, for financial reasons, has not been able to sustain even a systematic educational programme for its members.
For the labour movement to perform its proper role as an alternative voice of the nation, it should be a true reflection of the social and collective character of labour. It should be democratic, and the demonstration of May Day hardly reflected any democratic relationship between Nigerian workers and their leaders. A truly democratic regime in the labour movement will enable workers to recall or change their representatives and leaders if and when they cease to represent the true interest of their constituents...
