Mr Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafo, Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC), has reminded labour unions of the need to use the rule of law to settle all labour agitations.
He said that was the best way to promote fruitful negotiations between employers and labour and to ensure industrial harmony.
Mr Boadu-Ayeboafo gave the advice when he inaugurated an eight-member governing board of the Ghana News Agency in Accra.
The Board is chaired by Mr Ransford Tetteh, a former Editor of the Daily Graphic and has Mr Peter Claver Nibepwo Sangber-Dery, a Chartered Accountant and Banker, Mrs Ivy Hoetu, an ICT Specialist and Mr Daniel Addai, a Legal Practitioner, as members.
The rest are: Dr N. A. Ibrahim Lartey, a Medical Doctor and Pharmacist, Ms Juliet Amoah, Executive Director of Penplusbyte, Dr Charles Kwening, Founder and CEO of Kwening and Associates and Mr Albert Kofi Owusu, the General Manager of GNA
Government and some labour unions have in recent times accused one another of bad faith in negotiations leading to protracted labour agitations and industrial disharmony.
The NMC Chair said labour disharmony affected production and eventually remuneration and, therefore, cautioned aggrieved workers against taking entrenched positions that could cost them their employment.
Touching on the recent tussle between the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and the Labour Commission over the industrial action of UTAG, Mr Boadu-Ayeboafo said it was inappropriate for the leadership of UTAG to consult their members after a law court had directed members of the Association to go back to the lecture halls.
“If they do not like it, they should challenge it through the due process and yet they decide that they will go and consult their numbers,” said, adding: “I do not know of any undemocratic process like that. It undermines the rule of law to the bottom because in any democratic setting, it is about rules. It is only when you follow the rules and regulations and you are unable to resolve the matter that you may go to numbers.”
“Numbers are not the determinant of a democratic process. Numbers are the last resort,” the NMC Chair stressed.
Mr George Sarpong, the Executive Secretary of the NMC, commended management and staff of GNA for the industrial harmony at the Agency for the past four years and the show of resilience despite the numerous challenges it grappled with over the years.
He urged the Agency to continue to counter misinformation or falsehood, which had inundated the media landscape in recent times.
He said: “GNA has capacity to contest falsehood in real time unlike the newspapers and most of the public communications. You have the trust, the credibility and the expertise. Continue to do this…”
Mr Tetteh, the Board Chair, said the Board would work towards ensuring that the Agency retained its internally generated funds to enhance its operations.
He assured of the Board’s readiness to continue with projects the outgone Board initiated to sustain the Agency’s position as the reference point for media excellence.
Mr Owusu, the General Manager of GNA, called on the Board to fast track the re-enactment of the Agency’s Act to reposition it as a viable media organisation with a more business focus to generate significant revenue for its operations and the State.
He disclosed that the Agency was developing a scheme of service with the assistance of the Public Services Commission to align its human resource needs with the operations of the Agency and corresponding remuneration.
He appealed to the Board to support Management to seek better remuneration for the staff to avoid staff attrition.
“…this is critical as management seeks to invest more in the training of staff to take on bigger projects. Staff retention will be key to the achievement of the Agency’s goals. We hope that the new Board will assist management to engage stakeholders for a review of our employees’ salaries,” Mr Owusu said.
Source: Modern Ghana
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