The Secretary-General of Trades Union Congress, Ghana (TUC), Dr Yaw Baah, has bemoaned the government’s inability to adequately resource the National Labour Commission (NLC).
The NLC, established under Section 135 of the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651), was mandated to facilitate and settle industrial disputes.
However, he said the Commission does not have enough resources to discharge its mandate.
In an interview in Tema, Dr Baah said the government has not paid enough attention to the Commission.
“NLC is such an important labour administration institution but I am sorry to say government has not paid enough attention to it in terms of provision of resources,” he said.
According to him, the Commission lacks everything from human resources to finance to material resources and this is impacting negatively on its performance.
The Commission has been under the spotlight in the last few months over unresolved issues pushing labour to take industrial action.
Labour Commission on August 5, 2021, met the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and Senior Staff Association-Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG) over the withdrawal of service.
The association is seeking implementation of the 2012 Single Spine Salary Structure agreement which will see entry level lecturers receive cedi equivalent of over $2,000 monthly.
Although SSA-UoG has called off its strike over some interventions from the government, the Commission is currently in a legal tussle with UTAG on the ongoing strike.
“There are a number of cases piled up, NLC could have done better but again because they don’t have the resources, you cannot blame them that much in the outcome of the cases,” Dr Baah added.
He was optimistic the labour the front will be calm if the Commission gets the requisite resources to perform its functions.
On the UTAG strike, he urged the government to attach seriousness to its engagement with the aggrieved teachers.
“UTAG has a genuine case for embarking on strike. What I expect government to do is to create space for the body to know they are serious about the dialogue,” he said.
Dr Baah was of the firm view that the teachers will return to work once the issue is resolved.
