By Muniratu Akweley Issah
Accra, Aug. 15, GNA – Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, says government will resource and support the National Labour Commission (NLC) to execute its mandate effectively.
The Minister said the Government had begun retooling some labour Institutions in the country to enable them to address issues confronting the labour front.
Mr Awuah was speaking at a Social Partner Consultative Dialogue on labour issues in Ghana, organised by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in Accra.
The Consultative Dialogue provided a platform for labour unions to share ideas, experiences, challenges and find solutions to address issues.
The Minister of Employment, who recognized the importance of addressing issues affecting labour, said retooling the labour Institutions was necessary to assist them in addressing issues concerning labour effectively.
Mr Awuah appealed to the NLC to decentralize its offices with the creation of satellite offices in regions to handle issues and complaints at the regional level to start hearing minor cases and save people from long-distance travel.
He said: “Sometimes, a very small case and then you see somebody coming all the way from Bolgatanga to Accra just to try to settle it. But if provisions are made for the commission at the regional level, there will be no need to come all the way to Accra. …Sometimes they come and because of the number of cases, they are not even heard on the same day and the inconveniences involved are just too many.”
The Minister said the Government had begun some major works in retooling some of the labour institutions, especially, the labour department, saying that the labour department had moved from its traditional place to a new and better place. “Unlike in the past when they used to live in a makeshift property, sometimes no electricity, sometimes no proper ventilation and even had no chairs among others, creating a lot of inconveniences,” he said.
He said, “in a year’s time they will have a new labour house complex, which will be a four-storey building in a serene environment,” he added.
Mr Awuah commended NLC for its efforts in addressing labour cases swiftly, although they assumed office recently, and urged the labour unions to consider the adoption of Artificial Intelligence to be abreast of time.
“The landscape of labour keeps changing on a daily basis and will change more in future, so as makers of change, there is the need for us to be abreast and think ahead to foresee what is likely to happen in the next five years or more within the labour front and start preparing as such.”
The fifth Commission, since assuming office in July 2022, had settled 310 out of 844 cases from the labour front.
Mr Justice Kwabena Asuman Adu, Chairperson for NLC, said the majority of the cases were backlog of cases from previous years and were making frantic efforts to ensure that all cases were addressed in due time.
He said the Commission had designated two sittings within the week, thus Wednesdays and Thursdays for the hearing of cases.
He said the NLC was up to the task and ready to address all issues of concern and urged them to revisit cases that were not addressed to satisfaction.
Mr Joshua Ansah, Acting Secretary General, TUC, said the dialogue was necessary, which he believed would correct the wrongs in the labour front.
Some Labour Unions expressed their grievances about the unfair treatment of their members and other issues affecting them that were not resolved while others were not satisfied with rulings.
GNA