The Chief Labour Officer has issued a Collective Bargaining Certificate to the Medical Laboratory Professional Workers’ Union (MELPWU) to enable the union to effectively represent its members.
The issuance of the certificate is in accordance with section 99 of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651). follows approval by the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations after the Chief Labour Officer’s report declared the union eligible to be issued the certificate.
This means the MELPWU, which broke away from the Health Services Workers Union (HSWU), can represent and negotiate working conditions for its members, who are over 3,500 presently.
The HSWU objected to MELPWU’s application for a bargaining certificate, resulting in an impasse that was resolved by the Employment Ministry last Tuesday after the report by the Chief Labour Officer determined that out of the 4,010 unionized workers within the medical laboratory professional class of health workers in Ghana, MELPWU has 3,554 members (88.62 percent), while HSWU has 448 members (11.17 percent).
Receiving the certificate from the Chief Labour Officer, Mr. Eugene Narh Korletey at the Labour Department on Friday, July 1, 2022, Mr. Cephas Kofi Akortor, General Secretary of MELPWU thanked the Department for the support in recognising the rights of the union, their new status would be beneficial to both members and the employer.
“By this recognition, we now have a voice to channel and resolve our grievances through social dialogue without necessarily applying force. This inclusivity will therefore go a very long way in stabilizing our labour relations.
“In this era of interest-based negotiation, it is only good that workers and their employer sit at a common table to discuss issues of their interests,” he said.
Mr. Lawrence Yine, National Chairman of the union, for his part, acknowledged that the quest for the bargaining certificate had been a challenging battle, and expressed delight at the favourable outcome.
“We thank God that finally, the jinx to getting our CBC is broken. On behalf of the leadership, and the entire membership of the union, we wish to thank all those who supported us through this journey, especially our consultants, the Gamey and Gamey Group, our attorney and the media,” he said.
