GJA UNIONISED

By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri

The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has charged its president Ransford Tetteh to take the necessary actions to transform the association into a union.

By a majority vote, delegates at the GJA’s emergency general meeting held in Accra on Friday authorized the president of association to initiate steps to transform the body into a union.
The meeting, which was held due to the inability of the association to organize the annual general meeting in the first quarter of this year, was used to discuss the welfare of the members.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Tetteh, who is also the editor of Daily Graphic, said the association had received a number of complaints about the welfare of its members, who believe that it is high time GJA becomes a union to be able to champion greater authority in the course of the journalist work, especially with regards to their remunerations.
Mr Tetteh said that better remuneration and improved conditions of service could make a lot of difference in facilitating and promoting professionalism among journalists.
He said there was no basis for any employer to task a journalist to work effectively and efficiently without being provided with the basic requisite tools and equipment.
He further stated that a number of processes would be undertaken in order to deal with the issues, hence the holding of an emergency meeting to enlighten the members of the benefits and challenges.
“In this time and age, how can a journalist be worth a
professional image if he or she has no access to a computer and cannot use such a facility,” Mr Tetteh asked.
“As part of the welfare package, we are in negotiations with dealers to make it possible for every member who so wish to acquire a good lap-top at an affordable price and terms. We believe the lap-top is the engine room for
every journalist."
Mr Tetteh asked members to abide by the GJA code of ethics to reduce the infractions that undermine public trust and confidence in journalists.
The meeting was chaired by Prof Kwame Karikari, Executive Director, Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), who asked journalists to abide by the ethics of the profession.
He said journalists have a duty to improve the professional standards in the prevailing media environment in the country, which is one of the best on the continent.
Prof Karikari also endorsed the unionization of the association.
Speaking about the unionization of GJA, Kofi Asamoah, Secretary General of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC), said that the GJA can do more in terms of promoting the welfare of its members and that the constitution of Ghana gives every worker the right to join any union of his or her choice in view of the promotion of his or her economic, social and religious welfare.

He also stated that there was no need for the members to think that there will be confusion over journalists who have now become employers when the association becomes a union since both employers and workers would all work together.
Mr. Asamoah continued that if GJA joins the trade union it would be issued with a bargaining certificate which would enable members of the association to negotiate with their employers regarding their working conditions.
“The bargaining certificate will enable the members to negotiate for standard working conditions with their employers,” he said.
He further stated that the GJA would be able to protect the rights of its members at workplaces and also ensure that their rights are not trampled upon.
He encouraged the journalists to ensure that their rights are not trampled upon at their work places.
The chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), Kabral Blay-Amihere, in a speech delivered on his behalf, tasked the journalists to improve their reportage and also urged the association to initiate programmes to meet the challenges of the media.
In his assessment of the Association's activities for 2009, Bright Blewu, General Secretary of the GJA, said he was content that the leadership of the association had demonstrated the determination to promote responsible
journalism and to defend press freedom.
“We wish to refer to events during the Brong Ahafo at 50 celebrations,
where we stood by our colleagues in the region to have their concerns of press freedom violations addressed,” he said.
Mr Blewu said the association defended press freedom by amicably addressing the case involving Joy FM's Ato Kwamena Dadzie and that of the Ghanaian Times' newspaper publication on the residential accommodation for police personnel in the Central
Region.
He chastised some unscrupulous individual practitioners who wanted to drag the image of the profession into the mud by resorting to mischievous tactics to polarize the country, especially during the 2008 general elections.
“Radio stations that engaged in those dangerous acts may have been few but we are of the view that if we, as a family, do not honestly advocate corrective measures before the next election in 2012, we may be endorsing
any poor standards of operation and retaliation that others may be contemplating,” Mr Blewu said.
Linda Asante-Agyei, National Treasurer of the GJA, appealed to members to pay their dues regularly and promptly to sustain the association.


Pix saved in newdaily as GJA president.
Caption: Mr Ransford Tetteh GJA President.