‘Equip judges with expertise on labour issues’

TWO trade unionists have called on the Judicial Service to equip judges with the requisite knowledge in industrial relations to enable them to adequately preside over industrial disputes.
They observed that to appreciate labour disputes required a certain level of expertise, which was unfortunately not applied in labour cases brought before the courts.
The National Chairperson of the Public Services Workers Union of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Ms Georgina Amankwaa, and the General Secretary of the Ghana Federation of Labour, Mr Abraham Koomson, expressed these concerns when the Daily Graphic sought their views in a joint interview on the recent happenings on the labour front with specific regard to the numerous strikes in the country.
A recent case in point was the protracted strike embarked upon by members of the Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG), which compelled the NLC to drag the POTAG to the Labour and Industrial Division of the Fast-Track High Court to compel the striking teachers to return to the classroom.
In the view of the two unionists, the inability of the courts to amicably settle labour disputes brought before them was largely due to the fact that judges who lacked training in the specialised area treated such matters with a general legal spectacle, thus ending up creating more chaos on the labour front.
They said although there was a special court established for feuding parties to seek redress, judges who presided over labour cases in such courts often ended up with judgements which deepened the woes of aggrieved parties or satisfied one group to the annoyance of the other.
According to them, the seeming loss of confidence in the NLC’s ability to resolve matters brought before it had resulted in the labour court virtually taking over its functions, thus defeating the purpose for which the Commission was established.
They said in spite of the fact that organised labour and employers spearheaded the establishment of the NLC, those very bodies appeared to be undermining the Commission’s functions by using the judiciary to usurp its role.
In what they believed could contribute to restoring sanity and dignity to the labour front, the two unionists said instead of the court attempting to adjudicate on issues brought before it, the labour front could be better served if parties were directed to exhaust all available channels at the NLC before sending their cases to court.