Working towards harmonious labour relations    

Agitation by workers for better conditions of service is not new in Ghana; neither is picketing by workers to back their demand for better pay or conditions of service.

Nonetheless, the frequency with which different groups of public sector workers have taken to the streets to push their demand for better pay, for arrears to be paid and for other conditions to be met by the government gives cause for concern.

Our worry lies in the fact that it seems that during each strike or after a demonstration the government is able to meet the demands of the workers, either fully or halfway, which culminates in the suspension of the strike or justifies the demonstration.

This late action by the government, we believe, is what pushes other groups of workers to also lay down their tools to compel it to meet their needs.

The Daily Graphic posits that if workers’ agitation can make government functionaries put in the necessary measures to ensure that what is due them is provided, then nothing stops those appointees from preventing the strikes or demonstrations, in the first place.

Strikes and demonstrations cripple the economy because production is halted when they are embarked upon. Recently, nurses in the three psychiatric hospitals embarked on an indefinite strike because some of them had not been paid their salaries for several months. They only returned to post this week after GH¢760,000 had been released to pay their outstanding salaries.

Meanwhile, about 7,000 nurses and midwives in the country who have formed the Coalition of Unpaid Nurses and Midwives last Monday declared an indefinite strike to back their demand for the payment of all salaries and outstanding arrears for the past three years.

We appreciate the fact that sometimes the processes involved in ensuring that workers’ salaries are paid on time are very involving and cumbersome and require utmost care so that mistakes are prevented as much as possible.

But we urge institutions and bodies tasked with seeking the welfare of workers, such as the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), the National Labour Commission (NLC) and the National Tripartite Committee (NTC), to work at preventing labour unrest because of the non-payment of salaries and arrears.

Every worker deserves his or her dues and it is incumbent on the government to ensure that workers are treated fairly when it comes to their wages and salaries.

We urge more dialogue in such issues in order to promote industrial harmony instead of the entrenched positions that mostly result in strikes and demonstrations.