A labour expert, Kwasi Danso Acheampong, has advised the striking Civil and Local Government Service Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG) to heed to President John Mahama’s plea to them to return to work.
He, however, advised the workers to seek legal backing to whatever agreement they may reach with the government before they call off the strike which started two weeks ago to pressurise the government to pay its members their interim premium .
“We are in an election year so if the agreement is not legally binding and a new government takes over, they will not be paid so they should have detailed memorandum which should be signed by the stakeholders like the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, National Labour Commission, Ministry of Employment and Labour Relation and CLOGSAG”, Mr Acheampong said.
Speaking on Onua FM’s morning show, Yen Sempa , Mr Acheampong explained that CLOGSAG should resume work and continue the negotiations for their premium but they must ensure that whatever would be agreed on is captured in the 2017 budget statement.
Mr Acheampong who is also a legal practitioner, was commenting on President Mahama’s plea to the striking workers to resume. Speaking at the 10th Quadrennial Delegates Congress of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Kumasi Wednesday, President Mahama said government succumb to CLOGSAG’s demand since it has resolved not to overspend in an election year.
President Mahama said any attempt to yield to the demands of CLOGSAG “will throw the budget completely off track, and make nonsense of the sacrifices we have made together over the last year.”
The President’s plea, Mr Acheampong said “should not be politicized because we are going into an election so everything should be documented else the one who would take over can abrogate whatever is being said today”. Mr Acheampong said “it should be captured in the next year budget.
The date that would start should also be captured in the memorandum”. He argued the words of politician should not be enough grounds for them to resume work but said “what the body that is mandated by law to settle labour is what is binding so we should not rush to sign any papers that would make implementation difficult”.
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