A minimum salary for its members is being considered by the Ghanaian Musicians Union (MUSIGA).
This choice was made during the MUSIGA National Capacity Building Workshop for members of the Union’s National Executive Council, which was held from September 5–8 at the Erata Hotel in Accra.
The MUSIGA Gender Policy, Contractual Agreements, Collective Bargaining Agreements, and Improving Financial Management in MUSIGA were among the subjects covered with the workshop attendees.
Musicians Unions use the Collective Bargaining Agreement (C.B.A.) as a mechanism to ensure a minimum salary for its members, according to Thomas Dayan, the deputy general secretary of FIM who oversaw discussions on the document.
He pointed out that with a minimum pay set for Senegalese Association des Métiers de la Musique (AMS) members, Senegal has led the way in West Africa.
As a participant in the T.U.C. Union of Informal Workers Associations (UNIWA), MUSIGA is able to carry out this action, according to Mr. Dayan. MUSIGA will speak with venue owners, event planners, and employers of musicians to go over the specifics of such an arrangement.
As for the Swedish Musicians Federation (SMF), its head of international relations, Jonas Franzen, discussed the organization’s experience and spoke about communication and financial management challenges.
The President of MUSIGA, Bessa Simons, noted, “The workshop is a welcome activity that has provided our members with the necessary knowledge and skills to provide leadership for the Union in their regions, and I believe MUSIGA will be better off for this.”
The workshop’s chair, Alhaji Sidiku Buari, a former vice president of FIM and president of MUSIGA, gave a task to the participants in his final remarks: they were to go back to their regions and share what they had learned with their members. He also expressed gratitude to FIM for their support of MUSIGA going back to 2000.
Bice Osei Kuffour, alias Obour, the former president of MUSIGA, urged the attendees to make sure they use the skills they learned at the workshop to the development of the Union in the regions.
The Union was assured of the Ministry’s assistance in all of its endeavors by Mr. Robert Patrick Ankobiah, the newly appointed Chief Director of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture.
The workshop is part of a Union-to-Union project organized by FIM under the theme, “Developing Musicians Unions in Africa.” Other countries involved in the project are Kenya and Senegal.
