President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) at the University of Ghana, Professor Ransford Gyampo, has criticized the Presidency’s invitation to Organised Labour leaders for discussions on their planned strike against illegal mining, known as galamsey, calling it unnecessary and insincere.

Organised Labour declared its intent to begin an indefinite strike on Tuesday, October 1, citing the government's failure to address their demands, which include a complete ban on mining and the declaration of a state of emergency to combat galamsey.

In an interview on Citi FM’s Citi Breakfast Show on Thursday, October 3, Prof. Gyampo accused the government of handling the situation with Organised Labour in bad faith and lacking proper regard for their concerns.

He expressed his displeasure with the government's approach, labeling it as “predictable, needless, and bogus.”

“Anytime Labour goes into an agreement with them [the government] and for some reason, they can’t meet the terms, they don’t even have the courtesy to tell us that they cannot meet our demands

“We knew this is what they will be doing. It is so unproductive that they know what to do and they will not do it but go and call you somewhere to discuss issues. They always want to talk to leaders and not problems and that is needless and bogus.”

Prof. Ransford Gyampo also defended Organised Labour’s decision to provide a week’s notice ahead of its indefinite strike starting on October 10.

He explained that the notice period allows the various unions within Organised Labour sufficient time to prepare and follow the necessary procedures before embarking on the strike.

“People who do not know how Organised Labour operates say why didn’t we declare the strike immediately but Organised Labour is made up of other unions and so it is appropriate that we inform those unions appropriately before a major strike.

“There are various processes that are taken before a strike and that is why we are giving a one-week window.”