Attempts to solve labour
disputes outside the law is wrong
Accra, Dec. 3, GNA - Mr Joseph Aryitey, Chairman
of the National Labour Commission (NLC) has said
that attempts by persons or bodies outside the
law to resolve industrial matters after duly
established bodies had taken action sent wrong
signals to investors that the country's system
was unreliable.
He said it was important that when deviants
decided to flout the law, stakeholders, who
ensured its promulgation, must have interest in
its efficacy.
"Imagine advising an investor that industrial
disputes are resolved by Parliament or religious
leaders or eminent citizens or even the
President. Can that investor trust the system?
Would good governance be enhanced?" He asked.
Mr Aryitey was delivering the keynote address on
the theme: "Building Trust in Industrial
Relations - And the Act of Balancing
Stakeholders Interest - The Role of Employers
and Employees," at the annual congress of the
Barclays Bank of Ghana Limited Senior Staff
Association.
In reference to the intervention of religious
leaders in the National Association of Graduate
Teachers (NAGRAT) issue, Mr Aryitey said
although done in good faith it had raised
serious questions that must engage the attention
of people concerned about the direction of
industrial relations practice in the country.
"Let not posterity conclude on hindsight that
religious leaders, who represented the moral
conscience of the nation, did not lend support
to law breakers and encouraged the resort to
appeasement as a policy to deal with labour
disputes," he said.
He said if the parties to the dispute had
allowed the processes under the Act to work, a
lasting solution would have been found.
Mr Aryitey, however, asked employers to think of
the welfare of the employee, which was paramount
to the attainment of corporate objectives and
not to wait for problems to come up before
taking action.
"Let the employer be proactive in workers'
welfare rather than wait to be forced by
workers' demands to better their conditions.
When the worker is contented and is generally
well looked after he is an asset to the employer
and will raise the standard of industry," he
said.
Mr Aryitey appealed to the Ghana Investment
Promotion Centre, which administers the
programme under which companies were admitted to
the prestigious Club 100, to consider the
inclusion of harmonious industrial relations at
the workplace as one of the criteria to be
satisfied by applicants.
He said it was regrettable that a laudable
programme that ranked companies into this
exclusive Club did not factor in how such
companies related to workers.
He said the absence of such criteria did not
motivate employers to give their workers, who
were the important production resource, the
necessary priority and attention.
He said the inclusion of sound industrial
relations practice as one of the benchmarks for
admission into the Club would send positive and
encouraging signals to employers to attach high
premium to harmonious labour-management
relations.
This, he said, would be a major contribution
that the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre as a
neutral or disinterested party could make
towards building trust in industrial relations
for increased productivity.
Mr Dan Tagoe, Acting Chairman of the Senior
Staff Association, said it was important that
the Management came to the negotiating table in
the interest of peace and progress of the
Company.
Mr Mike Ezan, who chaired the function, said
building trust and confidence in employees was a
key to achieving industrial harmony at the
workplace.
He said it was only when there was mutual
respect among the parties that they would work
hand in hand to achieve corporate goals.
Mr Ezan asked Managements to be balanced without
jeopardizing stakeholders' interest.
GNA
