Trouble At Labour Comission

*Top member quits as internal bickering rips body apart

The numerous ongoing labour unrests are likely to get worse as a result of internal wranglings at the Labour Commission due to leadership failure and lack of direction, leading to the resignation of Dr. Eugenia Date-Bah, a Commission Member nominated by Government.

GYE NYAME CONCORD has learned from the office of the Chief of Staff and the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment that, Dr. Date-Bah submitted her resignation about two months ago.

Sources at the Castle, Osu, and the Ministry did not discuss the reason for the resignation except to say that it was a personal one.

However, investigations by the Concord revealed that Dr. Date-Bah, who retired from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as a deputy director, quit out of frustration, describing the Labour Commission as "the worst I have ever served on in my working life".

CONCORD checks further revealed that the Commission, chaired by Mr. Joseph Aryitey, a law teacher, is wracked by factions, causing difficulty in decision-makings.

Worse, the bickering has played onto the hands of the administrative officer, Mrs Bernice Welbeck, who is said to be taking questionable decisions on behalf of the Commission, this paper gathered.

Concord learned also that Dr. Date-Bah's decision to resign began firming up late last year when at one of the Commission's meetings, an attempt was made to hide factors militating against the speedy settlement of petitions, from the commissioners.

What might have angered her was the fact that this attempt by the lady was supported by some of the commissioners, our sources said.

Friends of some of the commissioners have told the Concord that the administrative officer has grown so powerful that the Chairman, is known to have complained and fretted but has been incapable of clippping her wings because she has godfathers on the Commission who have compromised themselves.

Again, in the name of the Chairman, the administrative officer has been offering conflicting positions on the application of the labour law, creating image and credibility problems for the Commission.

Cited are the Commission's revocation of the bargaining certificate of NUPROD and the notice of termination of appointment.

Employers and union members interviewed by the CONCORD over the past year have lamented these conflicting positions of the application of the law and wondered whether they represent the views of the administrative officer or that of the Commission.

This paper also gathered that there is serious bad blood between the Chairman, Mr. Aryitey and his Deputy, Kwasi Danso Acheampong, who on few occasions has contradicted him publicly on radio.

A typical case was the Commission's decision to take striking workers to court on which the Chairman and his Deputy expressed different positions on separate radio interviews.

Our probes established that the wrangling have led to lack of direction for the Commission.

No effort is being done to recruit more staff and that accounts for the inability to settle individual petitions faster as was done by the Labour Department.

This lack of direction has contributed in no small way to some of the ongoing strikes, sources say. It is on public record that a number of worker organisations and workers who have embarked on strike recently have said that they have lost confidence in the Commission. Among them are workers of the Bank of Ghana, Airways Catering Services, and TEWU.

In the case of the recent strike by staff of the Bank of Ghana, the senior staff claimed that before they petitioned the Commission, they were advised against it by certain industrial relations practitioners that the NLC would bungle the matter. "That person was vindicated," a senior staff of BOG told this paper.

Currently, the perception is that anybody who would petition the NLC would be wasting his/her time. This is because the procedure for settling individual petitions and lack of staff mean that it would take about two years before such petitions are settled.

In his reaction, the Chairman of the Commission, Mr Aryitey told this paper in an interview that Dr Eugenia Date-Bah, aside personal issues, cited her engagements to the ILO and the demands on her as a grandmother as the reasons for her resignation.

He maintained that the Commission's work has not in anyway been affected by her resignation and that his outfit has reported the matter to government, who appointed her to the board, saying that moves are far advanced to find somebody to replace Dr Date-Bah.

Mr Aryitey said indeed Dr Date-Bah had on numerous occasions been away in the UK working on other engagements, stressing that he was not surprised when she put in her resignation letter in February this year.

On the differences between himself and his deputy, Mr Kwasi Danso Acheampong, Mr Aryitey said as far as he is concerned, there is no bad blood between them and that the two have always agreed on policy issues.

Citing his wife as an example, he however, agreed that naturally there are bound to be differences in opinions within groups like the Labour Commission on policy direction, but at the end of the day they all agree on the same conclusion.