Construction and Building Materials Workers' Union

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The Construction and Building Materials Workers' Union (CBMWU) is a trade union representing workers in the building and road construction industries in Ghana.

The union was founded in 1954, and became the National Union of Building Trades Operatives and General Workers in 1956, when its absorbed the Ghana Housing Employees' Union and the Ghana Masons' Union. [1] [2] Its membership initially focused on workers at state-owned companies, such as the State Construction Company, Public Works Department and Ghana Highways Authority. It was later renamed the Construction and Building Workers' Union, and by 1977 was the third-largest affiliate of the Ghana Trades Union Congress, with 68,820 members. [3] [4] [5]

From the late 1970s, government construction jobs were gradually outsourced, and membership has fallen accordingly, standing at 10,000 in 2018. By that time the construction industry in Ghana was dominated by Chinese-owned companies with workers on insecure contracts. These provide the bulk of the union's small membership, for which it competes with the Construction and Allied Workers' Union. [3] [4] [6]

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References

  1. ↑ Directory of Labour Organizations: Africa. Washington DC: United States Department of Labor. 1958. pp. 13.1–13.13.
  2. ↑ Damachi, Ukandi (1979). Industrial Relations in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan UK. ISBN   9781349161652.
  3. 1 2 Trade Unions and Industrial Relations in Ghana. Ghana Trade Union Congress. 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  4. 1 2 Britwum, Ankrah (2010). Union democracy and the challenge of globalisation to organised labour in Ghana. Maastricht: Universitaire Pers Maastricht.
  5. ↑ Komlah Pawar, P. (1979). The Ghana Trades Union Congress: a brief report (PDF). Accra: Friedrich Ebert Foundation. p. 59. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  6. ↑ "Labour Market Profile 2020: Ghana" (PDF). Danish Trade Union Development Agency. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
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