Labour dispute resolution expert, Austin Gamey, has revealed that the ongoing strike action by the Universities Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and the issue surrounding the matter is a problem between UTAG and its employer and not the National Labour Commission (NLC).
According to him, it is fundamental for UTAG’s employer to resolve the issue to avert an extension of the strike action. Mr Gamey explained that there is cause for concern over the consistent manner in which institutions have over the period gone on one form of industrial action or the other on grounds of poor working conditions. Citing the case of CETAG and UTAG, he described the situation as “worse” anytime he hears such bodies striking to drive home their demands. He explained that anytime they suspend a strike action, it does not necessarily put finality on the matter.
Mr Gamey intimated that such issues must be of concern to the employers, particularly with the way employers are predisposed to resolving them. Following this, he commended the handling of the UTAG’s case in court by the judge who he reckons handled the case as it should be.
“The rush to take the matter to court itself does us no good because industrial relations is not supposed to be played in the law courts. The judge did exceptionally well… by not determining the case by way of imposing an injunction on UTAG; that was quite good. He urged them on to go and negotiate. The only small snag there, is asking them to go and meet with NLC to resolve their matter. UTAG has no problem with NLC at all. NLC is not a part of the issue. UTAG has a problem with the employer and employers must learn to have time [and] energy to spend with their labour unions 24 hours in resolving their differences”.
Austin Gamey
Surge in industrial strike action
Commenting on the deluge of industrial actions in the country, Mr Gamey attributed its rise to the “shift in making a new law, which is the Labour Act 6 (2003)”. He noted that unfortunately, “we’ve not been able to have a paradigm shift ourselves” as a people. The institutional bodies, he revealed, that are supposed to be training and guiding people to respond to the change contained in the law have failed.
“Indeed, industrial relations isn’t something that anybody can just jump into it because managing people and related feelings is a very huge assignment. So, because we failed to have that experience of shifting to where appropriate, all of us have become victims of the circumstance now. So, we have to take a step backward and take the right step. That way, we can overcome the challenges we have now, otherwise it will continue like this into perpetuity”.
Austin Gamey
Following the growth in numbers of striking bodies, the Labour expert called for inclusivity especially from government. He indicated that since such matters revolve around human relations it is crucial for government to engage bodies involved.
“If you are managing people and a circumstance beyond your control crops up, what do you do? That is why we are talking about managing people. There is one key word that appears to be missing in the lexicon of Ghana; inclusivity. Everybody is in his own silos, behaving as if whatever he says is final. We are many, include people. That is what our law says. The constitution of Ghana is very clear under the directive principle of state policy chapter 6 or so, article 36 subsection 10 and 11 says that… the state shall ensure that working people shall participate in decision making. It is on the basis of that the Labour law was crafted. It wasn’t crafted for academic purposes. It’s one of the subject areas you must implement”.
Austin Gamey
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