General News of Friday, 16 February 2007

Source: GNA

Rescind strike threat - NLC to health workers

Accra, Feb 16, GNA - The National Labour Commission (NLC) on Friday called on the Health Workers Group (HWG) to rescind their decision to embark on an industrial action since their action would contravene Section 159 of the NLC law.

In a statement to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra, the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Health, Mr Dan Osman Mwin, said the NLC reminded the HWG that their intended action, which they stated was in accordance with Section 159 of the NLC law, could not be sustained because they had not exhausted the necessary procedures under the law. It said, "The NLC law requires that where the parties refuse to settle negotiation, the Dispute Settlement Procedure should be followed before any industrial action can be taken under Section 159". The NLC made it clear to the HWG that it did not satisfy the requirements of the Section, before serving notice on the strike action and stated that, "Therefore, any action taken at this time would be in contravention of the law".

The NLC asked the parties involved to allow the Commission some time to address the issues brought to it and not to take any action to derail the settlement process. 16 Feb. 07