# Ghana Trades Union Congress

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 The Act was repealed by the I.K. Acheampong government in the same year.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 | 2,881 |
| 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