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NLA, FBSEU ordered to resolve disputes

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The National Labour Commission (NLC) has directed the National Lotteries Authority (NLA) to meet with the Financial Business and Services Employees Union, (FBSEU), to settle disputes over some internal disagreements.

The Commission says it may be compelled to charge the NLA with contempt if it fails to do so. This comes after the union threatened to go on strike following allegations of attempts by management to interfere in union matters.

To this end, the Labour Commission has ruled that management of NLA should meet with the union not later than February 12 to resolve their issues.

The directive was given after the NLA failed to turn up at the commission’s last hearing on January 29 this year.

The National Labour Commission, which is responsible for settling disputes between employees and employers in both the formal and informal sector, often has a backlog of between 40 to 60 cases monthly. This is because the Commission has only two offices in Accra and Takoradi, serving the whole country. The Labour commission sits only on Wednesdays and is able to handle a maximum of 12 cases a day.

It receives between 80 to 120 complaints in a month but is only able to sit on 48 of those cases in that period.

The Commission has complained on a number of occasions about challenges in dealing with parties while sitting on cases especially the absence of one party involved in a dispute at the hearing of the case, upon invitation by the Labour Commission.

According to the Financial Business and Services Employees Union, this has been the trend in their case against management of the NLA.

General Secretary of the Union Benjamin Mingle says his organisation welcomes the directive by the Labour Commission and expects the NLA to comply. “The Commission has been giving directives and we are still where we are…at this stage we expect the Director General (of the NLA) to comply because we have the right go on strike”…

Meanwhile, the Public Relations Manager of the NLA Razak Opoku has denied allegations by the union that management is deliberately dragging the matter by refusing to appear at the Labour Commission’s hearing.

“Management is not and will never drag this matter…what benefit does it serve management….on the last invitation by the Labour Commission the Director-General was not around, so the information being put out by the Union is falsehood”

Chairman of the Labour Commission, Andrew Asamoah, explained to  GBC’s Radio Ghana steps the Commission will take if the NLA fails to adhere to the directive before the February 12 deadline. “when they (the NLA) don’t show up we initially send an invitation, then a final invitation then we subpoena you and if you still fail to show up, we charge you with contempt….the last time they (NLA) came but it is the directive that they have failed to comply that is why we are writing to them to meet with the union and get back to us by February 12”

For now, the Financial Business and Services Employee Workers Union says it will put its intended strike on hold, pending the outcome of their engagement with  NLA, while management of the Authority insists the Union’s focus is solely on the dues to be paid by Union members, hence its aggressive posture.

Story By: Nathaniel Nartey.

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