The General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) has debunked claims that the proposed review of the Labour Act is unnecessary.
Labour analyst Austin Gamey criticised the technical committee’s review of the current Labour Act, stating that the proposed changes are redundant.
Speaking to Citi News, the General Secretary of the General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) and a member of the Labour Legislation Review Technical Committee, Edward Kareweh, reaffirmed the need for new provisions to conform with the current needs of organised labour.
“This is a negotiated act between employers, government and labour. It is also to be used by ordinary people in the workplace. Technicalities in the law, as much as possible, are avoided so that practitioners can easily understand the face value of the words. And those words do not lend itself to different interpretations. So there is a need to always review the Labour Act.
“What this act has done is to consolidate some of the labour legislations into one. The PNDC law 187, which is on workman compensation, is now part of the new provision that we are doing so that it doesn’t stand alone. You don’t have to go and look for another law somewhere to be able to determine whether workman compensation is part of it.
“We have introduced new things like violence and harassment at workplaces. You look at the National Labour Commission itself, it has been in existence and we have seen the weaknesses that go with it.
“So we need to review it to incorporate all these things into it. It is necessary to have the Labour Act reviewed after operating it for over 20 years.”
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