More than 100 workers of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) have been dismissed, raising tension among the workforce of the authority.
The employees, largely administrative staff, who were handed their dismissal letter on Friday, were employed between September and December 2016 by the former management under the past government.
The workers, who were about completing their six-month probation, were informed that their services were no longer required.
Eric Thompson, Chairman of DVLA Workers Union told ADR Daily that the Union was surprised at the turn of events because it had urged the management to suspend the action until the list of those to be affected was determined.
“This is a very worrying situation and it can affect productivity since there is uncertainty among the workers,” he said.
According to him the action is unfair, adding that “the criteria being used are not fair since the workers are in the last month of their probation period.
He also said that although the CEO claims the Authority has no funds to pay the salaries of the workers, they should be treated fairly.
He indicated that the local union would meet the leadership of the General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union today to decide on the line of action to be taken on the matter.
Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament has expressed concern over the increasing reports of staff dismissals by the new government.
Richard Quarshiga, NDC MP for Keta and deputy ranking member speaking on Labour issues, described recent spate of dismissals as “a cancerous trend.”
He said the dismissed employees were recruited on merit and not because of political consideration as the government may be suspecting, adding that the right processes have to be used if their services were no longer needed.
For his part, Labour Expert, Austin Gamey said the Authority reserves the right to lay-off workers if it is convinced their services are not needed.
According to him, the dismissal of the over 100 staff is not abnormal especially when it comes to the political terrain.
But he noted that he does not support such actions because professionally the way forward is to use the appropriate institutionalized processes, and he therefore advised affected workers to seek redress at the National Labour Commission if they believe they have been treated unfairly.
The dismissal of the DVLA workers is a recent labour action that comes after the Medical Director of the Ridge Hospital, Dr Thomas Awuni Anaba was transferred to another facility and the dismissal of the Corporate Affairs Director of the Ghana Gas Company, Alfred Ogbamey.
By Adotey Mingle
