Talks underway to find lasting solution to labour disputes - Minister

Accra, Aug. 30, GNA - The Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment is holding talks with the Ministry of Public Sector Reforms and other stakeholders to come up with a proactive system that would seek to address frequent labour crises.

Mr Abubakar Saddique Boniface, Minister of Employment, Youth and Development, who disclosed this in interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Wednesday, said the current process of adjusting salaries annually was not the best and had often resulted in protracted disputes between workers and employers.

"Negotiations on conditions of service must be done within a stipulated period,=94 he said.

He stated that it should be possible to work out salary modalities that would span two to three years taking into account all economic indicators so that employees would not call for negotiations at any little shock.

Mr Boniface, who also spoke at a workshop organized by the National Labour Commission (NLC) to orient organized labour, employers and unionized members on the negotiation, mediation and arbitration procedures, said it was about time disputes were settled at enterprise level without the involvement of third parties.

He stressed that it was imperative for labour and employers to be tutored on labour regulations to be abreast with the processes required in negotiations.

"We cannot operate in an atmosphere of uncertainty, vacuum and darkness. Instead there should be enlightenment, transparency and fairness in all transactions.=94

The Minister noted that industrial actions and settlement by aggrieved employees took most of the operational time saying in this harsh competitive global market if products became too expensive or sub-standard due to industrial actions it would result in companies folding up.

"Our quest to achieve middle-income status within the next decade will be a mirage if we do not manage our industrial relations better.=94 Mr J. A. Aryitey, Chairman of the National Labour Commission, noted that the discussions of the regulations were taking place shortly after a period of demonstrations, threats of strikes and strikes by workers including those in essential services who were prohibited from resorting to strike. "From the viewpoint of the labour law those strikes were illegal because the process of embarking on strike were not followed.=94 Mr Aryitey said he believed that the action of the public sector clearly showed lack of good faith, which was necessary in generating confidence in the engagement process between employers and workers. "A sincere commitment to the dispute settlement procedures spelt out in the Labour Law could have averted these strikes, some of which resulted not only in huge losses to the economy but also death of people who were not in any way connected with the dispute," he said. Mr Austin Gamey, a labour consultant, emphasized on negotiation in good faith where all the parties were provided with the relevant information to put all issues related to labour to rest.

He said the Labour Commission was there to build an industrial climate that would enhance labour-employers relations and should only be brought on board when negotiations hit deadlock.