Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union (Ghana)

The Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union (ICU) is a general union, the largest union in Ghana.

History

The union was founded on 25 May 1960, with the merger of five unions:[1]

  • Catering and Meat Cutters Union
  • Commercial and Allied Workers' Union
  • General Clerical and Public Boards Employees' Union
  • Manufacturing and Industrial Workers' Union
  • Printers and Newspapers Workers' Union

It was initially named the Industrial, Commercial, and General National Workers' Union.[2] It affiliated to the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC).[3] The largest union in the country, in the 1980s under L. G. K. Ocloo it became known for its opposition to the Provisional National Defence Council, and Ocloo was ultimately forced into exile.[4]

In 1983, some union members split away, to form the Textile, Garment and Leather Employees' Union. A further group left in 2003, founding the Union of Industry, Commerce and Finance (UNICOF).[3] The TUC accepted UNICOF as a new member, leading the ICU to resign from the TUC, in protest.[5] This led to a long-running dispute over its offices in the Hall of Trade Unions in Accra.[6] As of 2020, the union claims to have about 100,000 members.

General Secretaries
1960: Benjamin T. Bartimeus
1964:
1972: Ben Edjah[4]
1983: L. G. K. Ocloo[4]
1992: Napoleon Kpoh[4]
2010: Gilbert Awinongya
2013: Solomon Kotei

References
  1. "Industrial and Commercial Workers Union concerned about formation of splinter groups". Ghana Broadcasting Corporation. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  2. "Industrial Relations in Ghana". Industrial and Labour Relations Review. 1960.
  3. "The Case of Ghana" (PDF). Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. February 2004. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  4. Kraus, J. (2007). Trade Unions and the Coming of Democracy in Africa. Springer. pp. 104–110. ISBN 978-0230610033.
  5. "Trade Unions and Industrial Relations in Ghana" (PDF). Trades Union Congresss. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  6. "Attempts to eject Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union from Hall of Trade Unions heighten tension with TUC". GBC Ghana. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
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