National Labour Commission (NLC) has initiated legal proceedings in response to the ongoing strike by workers of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA).
The GHA workers began an indefinite strike on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, to protest the implementation of the National Roads Authority Act, 2024 (Act 1118).
In a statement issued the same day, the NLC stressed that the strike action was not conducted in accordance with the legal requirements outlined in the Labour Act, 2023 (Act 651). Consequently, the commission directed the workers to suspend the strike and adhere to proper procedures.
However, NLC Executive Secretary Ofosu Asamoah stated in an interview on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News with Umaru Sanda Amadu that the commission had moved to take legal action because the workers had disregarded its directive to follow due process.
“They did not follow the due process the law provides for that you should give the labour commission at least seven days’ notice, two notices to the commission and then to your employers and in their case even when it comes to the declaration of strike it is done by the national union and not a divisional union.
“So in both cases they were wrong and you know earlier before the strike could take place the Ministry had petitioned the commission and they were summoned before the commission.
“We have initiated (legal action) it already. We are yet to be called. But in any case, if they decide to go back we will have to halt the court action and I think that it will be in their interest and the interest of all Ghanaians that once they have admitted before the commission that they had not followed the due process we expect them to respect our directive,” Asamoah stated.