Accra, Sept 9, GNA – The Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union-Ghana has supported the call for the appointment of permanent Commissioners for the National Labour Commission (NLC) to adjudicate on labour related issues brought before it on daily basis.
The Union was of the view that the appointment would ensure that justice could be dispensed to aggrieved parties in time, “as justice delayed, is justice denied”.
The Union also supported the call by the Commission for its own office premises, which could accommodate all the proposed permanent Commissioners when appointed, to ensure efficient and effective service delivery to the nation.
This was contained in a statement signed by Mr Morgan Ayawine, the General Secretary, ICU- Ghana and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.
“Similarly, we support the Executive Secretary of NLC appeal to the government to absorb the fees and charges of mediators and arbitrators since some complainants are unable to afford it thus denying them justice,” it said.
This, the statement said would no doubt go a long way to help complainants seek justice at the Commission in a fast-track manner.
The statement said it was unequivocal that the labour landscape in the country was replete with disputes between workers and employers, which needed expeditious resolution to ensure industrial peace and harmony at the workplace for increased production and productivity.
It said there was no gainsaying the fact that the NLC which was one of the key and tailor-made institution that had been legally mandated to adjudicate on disputes between workers and employers was under resourced, and that it cannot deal expeditiously and effectively with issues brought before it.
“The ICU-Ghana, being the largest heterogeneous trade union organization in Ghana with membership in over 700 organizations with numerous unresolved disputes at the enterprise level, make us regular patrons of the services of the Commission to adjudicate on issues between our members and their employers”.
The statement said the part-time status of the Commissioners, which made them sit on cases only once a week, was indeed grievously affecting the dispensation of justice both to workers and employers.
It said the lingering on of grievances continue to create a kind of rancourous relations between social partners at the workplace thus negatively affecting production and lowering productivity to the detriment of the national economy.
“For ICU-Ghana, as part of Organized Labour, we will like to use this opportunity to urge our colleagues in the labour fraternity as well as the Ghana Employers Association to contribute our quota towards the empowerment of the Commission to enable them deliver effectively for our mutual good”.
Source: Ghana News Agency