The Ghana Revenue Authority Workers Union (GRAWU) has expressed its intention to seek the intervention of the National Labour Commission (NLC) to enable it to obtain a Bargaining Certificate from the office of Chief Labour Officer.
Although Section 99 (1) of the Labour Act 2003, Act 651 stipulates that without the assistance of any third party that “A trade union shall make an application to the Chief Labour Officer for a certificate appointing that trade union as the appropriate representative to conduct negotiations on behalf of the class of workers specified in the collective bargaining certificate with the employers of the workers,” but GRAWU believes that the intervention of the National Labour Commission will strengthen its request for the certificate.
Following its registration by the Chief Labour Officer on October 31, 2012 with Registration Number RTU/83 under section 84 of the Labour Act 651 (Act 2003), GRAWU has surpassed the Public Service Workers Union (PSWU) as the leading union at the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) with about 3,400 members.
This development has necessitated the process to obtain a second certificate by GRAWU to conduct negotiations on behalf of its members.
Speaking to ADR Daily during the union’s seventh National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held in Accra, the National Chairman of the GRAWU, Dominic Nartey expressed unhappiness about the delay by the Labour Office in issuing the certificate.
According to him, the Labour Office has been slow in its approach to issue GRAWU a Collective Bargaining Certificate despite persistent reminders from the union’s national executive since 2015, adding that the delay in getting a Certificate continue to cause operational and reputational challenges for the group.
The two-day NEC meeting, which was held on the theme, “Managing and Leading Trade Unions,” had in attendance regional executives who were, among other things, educated through some sections of the Labour Act.
According to Mr. Nartey, the essence on the training on the Labour Act was to empower all the regional executives to be proactive in dealing with issues at the regional level without pushing every issue to the national secretariat in Accra.
