Mahama better than Kufuor at resolving strikes

John Mahama has been able to resolve labour strikes far more swiftly than the Kufuor administration was ever able to, according to Samuel George, a member of the communication team of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).

According to him, should people insist that President John Mahama has failed to address the labour upheavals in the country, then former President John Agyekum Kufour did virtually nothing to resolve the conflicts that arose from the various labour unions in the country during his regime.

He explained that during President Kufour’s era, it took him eight months to resolve the conflicts but “under John Mahama, it took him 10 days to get the teachers back into the classrooms. That is the mark of a leader. That is the mark of the kind of President Ghana needs".

Speaking in an interview with Peacefmonline.com, Samuel George commended the current administration for adopting a rapid approach to resolve the labour conflicts in the country.

Making reference to the industrial actions embarked on by some public sector unions, particularly the Ghana Medical Association and teachers across the country, he asserted that President Mahama intervening in the conflict; has created a culture of trust.

He said: “Those who read the situation in this country and read it as negative for His Excellency have a very, very shallow understanding of governance. The problems we are faced as a country on the labour front did not originate on the 7th of January. Many of them are 2 years old. Some of them are 4 years old. Some of them even transcend 4 years. And so, these are not issues generated or came into being on the 7th of January. His Excellency inherited this agitation.”

To him, the President’s involvement has enhanced the trust that the labour unions reposed in the government.

“He’s trying to build a culture of trust between himself and the worker unions. And for me, that is the most important thing to solving labour-related issues, where labour unions do not trust government. And when in that atmosphere of mistrust, you cannot have a lasting labour-government relationship. But I think His Excellency is doing a fine job of building that trust.

“His ability to engage expeditiously GNAT, NAGRAT, CLOSSAG, the teachers, the nurses, the pharmacists, the doctors. For me, his expeditious handling of those matters is crystalline,” he stated.

Doctors across the country are currently on strike and have said they will even stop providing essential emergency services as of Monday if their demands are not met.