Does labour matter in reforms? Indications from Ghana’s environmental sanitation policy

Abstract

Recent policy debates point to public service privatisation as a solution to the problems of state indebtedness, non-performance, and inefciency of the public sector. This privatisation agenda has raised concerns about the implications for jobs and working conditions. In developing countries like Ghana, where markets are weak or exhibit signs of failure, state policy becomes a vital avenue for securing decent working conditions for workers. Using an appraisal of Ghana’s Environmental Sanitation Policy and through the lens of institutional theory, the paper argues that the extent to which employment rights are framed, even at the policy stage, signals how labour rights will be impacted within privatised employment spaces. The analysis shows that the environmental sanitation policy ignores the interests of labour. The paper, therefore, recommends the need for inputs of labour market institutions such as trade unions at the policy stage. This is because trade unions remain the most credible source of response to the unrestrained exploitative tendencies of capital at the expense of labour.