Trade unions in Ghana first emerged in the 1920s and have played an important role in the country's economy and politics ever since.
The first industrial action in Ghana - at the time still the British colony Gold Coast - was a strike by the country's miners in 1919.
The British government encouraged the establishment of a national trade union center as it sought to avoid the kind of labor struggles that had accompanied the Industrial Revolution in Europe and North America.
[3] In 1954, the TUC launched an attempt to re-group and re-organize along industrial lines as well as a campaign to make the public aware of this move.
This change was met with opposition by the union of the United Africa Company, partially the result of communist influence.
The Industrial Relations Act of 1965, which replaced that of 1958, forced anyone wishing to register a trade union to do so via the TUC, a move many considered to contravene the ILO Convention No.
He expressed his support for the "existence of a free and independent labour movement" and promised the TUC he would help it in gaining power.
Following a coup led by Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, the National Redemption Council military government repealed the 1971 act and restored the TUC in February 1972.
[3] After the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) came to power through a coup in 1981, it sought cooperation with the TUC, but failed to receive its full support.
In 1985, the TUC and several public sector workers' associations founded the National Consultive Forum of Ghana Labour (NFGL).