Labour unions seeking redress at the National Labour Commission (NLC) may have to wait for at least the end of January 2018 to get their issues duly addressed.
This is the indication from the NLC as it hopes that its new Commission would have been formed by then.
Citi Business News has been speaking to some analysts who believe a further delay will adversely impact labour front.
Information available to Citi Business News indicates that the tenure of the past Commission ended in October last year.
The Commission is among others expected to adjudicate all labour cases brought before it by affected parties.
Per the regulations guiding its operations, the Commission cannot sit on any case if it falls short of its seven member composition.
The General Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU), Solomon Kotei in an earlier interview lamented the backlog of activities due to the non existence of a Commission.
“Labour, employers have been able to send their proposed commissioners but nothing has happened as of now. So from last year till date, it is only reconciliatory works that is being done at the Commission. There are neither the usual mediators nor arbitrators on their job and this is not very healthy because there is pile up,” he stated.
The Executive Secretary of the NLC, Vincent Ofosu Asamoah couldn’t agree more.
He narrated the increased work schedules as his outfit awaits the approval of its nomination from the Presidency.
“We used to have a backlog of cases but we are dealing with them…that is what we want to look at and if there had been delays in the past, we wouldn’t want that to be repeated in 2018.”
Labour Analyst Austin Gammey also believes the continuous delay may not augur well for anticipated labour issues in the interim though he admits to some alternative resolution mechanisms.
He therefore urged that the process is expedited to get all representatives at work.
“The Secretariat is doing their best but I think that the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations may have to bring this to the attention of the Presidential staffers especially the Chief of Staff so that they can arrange for the President to commission them into office,” he stated.
Meanwhile the Executive Secretary for the NLC, Ofosu Asamoah is optimistic the Commission should be operating by the end of this month barring any unforeseen circumstances.
“We should be getting the commission set any moment from now; it was my expectation that this has been completed by now. When it comes to the nomination of government’s representatives, the President refers the nomination to the Council of State for advice and that is where I think has led to the delays. But I do not see why we should be looking at end of January and beyond,” he assured.
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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana
