Employee Relations and Trade Unions in Ghana: A Changing Perspective

Employee relations (ER) have been evolving in Ghana. ER in Ghana was initially characterised by colonial history and entrenched in the formal economy. Nevertheless, an informal sector has been dominant in Ghana’s economic structure, which supports increasing levels of self-employment (peasant proprietorship) and family workers. Over the last three decades, the liberalisation of the economy and the dependence on multinational enterprises (MNEs) to develop key sectors of the Ghanaian economy brought with it employment relations systems shaped by MNEs’ human resource (HR) policies that both engaged with and opposed trade unions. The chapter highlights how the different contextual characteristics interact and contribute to a fragmented ER environment in Ghana. The historical background and the interface of the formal economy alongside the informal economy, small business sector, labour commodification and MNEs have immediate consequences for the current fragmentation of ER. The implications and strategies for trade union revitalisation in Ghana are discussed.