Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) - Ghana (Ratification: 1965)

Other comments on C087

Observation

Direct Request

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The Committee notes the comments made by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), dated 31 July 2012, concerning the application of the Convention and, in particular, the allegations of violent repression by the police during a peaceful demonstration organized by the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT). The Committee requests the Government to provide its observations on this subject, as well as on the ITUC’s 2008, 2009 and 2011 comments.

Legislative issues. The Committee recalls that, for many years, it has been commenting on the need to amend the following provisions of the 2003 Labour Act and its 2007 Regulations:

-section 79(2), which excludes persons performing managerial and decision-making functions from the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing;
-section 1, which excludes prison staff from its scope of application and therefore from the right to establish and join organizations of their own choosing;
-section 80(1), which provides that two or more workers may establish or join a trade union if they are in the same “undertaking”, defined in section 175 of the same Act as “the business of any employer”;
-section 80(2), which provides that employers must employ not less than 15 workers to establish or join an employers’ organization;
-sections 154–160, which do not set any time limit with regard to mediation;
-section 160(2), under which collective disputes are referred to compulsory arbitration if they are not resolved within seven days; and
-section 20 of the 2007 Regulations which sets out too broad a list of essential services.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that in the work that is being carried out with the ministries concerned, the Committee’s comments are being taken into account. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on any measures taken or envisaged with a view to amending the abovementioned legislative provisions and to provide a copy of all relevant texts. The Committee recalls that the Government may, if it so wishes, avail itself of the Office’s technical assistance in this matter.