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| Former Chairman of the National Labour CommissionMr. Aryitey |
Former Chairman of the National Labour Commission (NLC) has
described the Commission as “orphaned”.
Having served as chairman of the commission under three different presidents - John Kufuor, John Mills and John Mahama - Joseph Aryitey says not much has changed since he left the commission in 2013 and cited funding as one of the Commission’s greatest challenge yet.
He disclosed that the commission's budget has progressively reduced over the years and slashed to about half of what is requested.
Another hurdle is the actual release of funds which Mr. Aryitey says is another “problem.” He disclosed that “we left the scene and it took about 7 months to bring us our allowances”.
Speaking on Multi TV's AM Show Thursday, he indicated that “nobody felt they had to pump in so much money to keep it going but they need the money to run the place successfully”.
He describes instances where “filing for court papers for implementation is a challenge because of lack of funds”.
The capacity to settle disputes Mr. Aryitey says, continues to be a challenge with the core staff virtually nonexistent.
Mr. Aryitey said he worked with only four officials trained to deal with settlement of disputes even though the commission had close to 40 staff and could boast of one lawyer who was responsible for all cases across the country.
As former Chairman of the commission, he said “from my background it would have been very easy to change but with the public system, no, you can’t easily do a thing; when you start a fight like that you might not achieve anything at all”.
He is, however, has confident that the 15 member National Tripartite Committee representing organised labour, employers and government will sit down, plan and find what can be done about the consistent labour agitations.
Commenting on the ongoing strike by doctors in the public sector, Mr Aryitey said the NLC has been unable to address the issues probably due to the lack of resources
He said with just one lawyer at post and a limited number of commissioners, enforcing the commission's authority becomes almost impossible.
The recent increase in court fees he says has further aggravated the woes of the commission.
“The money to run the system is not being released, you can be appealing and appealing but if it’s not coming, but you’ll have to push the wall until there is a breakthrough somewhere”.
He insists though that the labour law which he describes as “a law of compromises” because of the social partners involved in crafting it, is necessary since uncertainties in the labour market have been minimized.
Mr. Aryitey says “when disputes arise, you expect that these three groups which fashioned this law will themselves recall the past, the present and look at the future”.
Having served as chairman of the commission under three different presidents - John Kufuor, John Mills and John Mahama - Joseph Aryitey says not much has changed since he left the commission in 2013 and cited funding as one of the Commission’s greatest challenge yet.
He disclosed that the commission's budget has progressively reduced over the years and slashed to about half of what is requested.
Another hurdle is the actual release of funds which Mr. Aryitey says is another “problem.” He disclosed that “we left the scene and it took about 7 months to bring us our allowances”.
Speaking on Multi TV's AM Show Thursday, he indicated that “nobody felt they had to pump in so much money to keep it going but they need the money to run the place successfully”.
He describes instances where “filing for court papers for implementation is a challenge because of lack of funds”.
The capacity to settle disputes Mr. Aryitey says, continues to be a challenge with the core staff virtually nonexistent.
Mr. Aryitey said he worked with only four officials trained to deal with settlement of disputes even though the commission had close to 40 staff and could boast of one lawyer who was responsible for all cases across the country.
As former Chairman of the commission, he said “from my background it would have been very easy to change but with the public system, no, you can’t easily do a thing; when you start a fight like that you might not achieve anything at all”.
He is, however, has confident that the 15 member National Tripartite Committee representing organised labour, employers and government will sit down, plan and find what can be done about the consistent labour agitations.
Commenting on the ongoing strike by doctors in the public sector, Mr Aryitey said the NLC has been unable to address the issues probably due to the lack of resources
He said with just one lawyer at post and a limited number of commissioners, enforcing the commission's authority becomes almost impossible.
The recent increase in court fees he says has further aggravated the woes of the commission.
“The money to run the system is not being released, you can be appealing and appealing but if it’s not coming, but you’ll have to push the wall until there is a breakthrough somewhere”.
He insists though that the labour law which he describes as “a law of compromises” because of the social partners involved in crafting it, is necessary since uncertainties in the labour market have been minimized.
Mr. Aryitey says “when disputes arise, you expect that these three groups which fashioned this law will themselves recall the past, the present and look at the future”.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
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