General News of Saturday, 21 August 2021
Source:
2021-08-21
National Labour Commission
A Senior Research Fellow of the Kumasi Technical University, Dr. Smart Sarpong has advised the National Labour Commission to be proactive in solving labour issues.
Dr. Smart Sarpong, discussing the recent development between the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), government and the National Labour Commission on Peace FM’s ”Kokrokoo”, bemoaned the Commission’s habit of waiting for labour issues to escalate before intervening.
UTAG has temporarily called off their strike following negotiations with the government and the Labour Commission.
Portions of a statement signed by the Minister of Education and UTAG President, Prof. Charles Marfo read; ” . . whilst the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations in conjunction with the National Labour Commission (NLC) is taking steps to DISCONTINUE all legal processes (i.e., National Labour Commission vs. University Teachers Association of Ghana, Suit. No. IL/0116/2021) against UTAG, UTAG will also take steps to SUSPEND the on-going strike action; That government acknowledges the need to improve the working conditions of University Teachers and shall treat this with all the seriousness it deserves.”
Dr. Sarpong believed if the Commission had paid attention to the UTAG reminders about their grievances, there wouldn’t have been the need for a strike action by the teachers.
He counselled the Commission that, going forward, it should adopt the behaviour of solving problems early.
“If you don’t become proactive and solve your problems early, it could overwhelm you and you won’t know what to do. So, I advise that, next time, they should solve their problems early. They should quickly intervene in labour issues before it gets out of hand,” he said.