Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Ghana (Ratification: 1959)

The Committee recalls that in its previous comments it requested the Government to reply to several comments by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). The Committee requests the Government to conduct the necessary inquiries into the allegations of anti-union discrimination contained in these comments and, in all cases where they prove to be well founded, to ensure the application of sufficiently dissuasive sanctions. The Committee also once again requests the Government to reply to the comments of the ITUC concerning the 2008 decision of the Accra High Court that employers can dismiss workers without giving any reasons denouncing that some employers use this ruling to remove trade unionists from their enterprises.

Prison staff. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to take the necessary legislative measures to ensure that members of the prison service staff enjoy the right to organize and bargain collectively. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that appropriate action will be taken to bring the legislation in this area into line with the provisions of the Convention. Recalling once again that the Convention’s guarantees apply to prison service staff, the Committee hopes to be able to note tangible progress on this subject in the Government’s next report.

Collective bargaining certification. The Committee previously noted that, under section 99(4) of the 2003 Labour Act, the Chief Labour Officer appeared to have full discretion to decide which trade union to grant recognition to, in situations where more than one trade union existed at the workplace, and that the criteria upon which this decision should be based were not specified. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that section 10.1 of the 2007 Labour Regulations provides that, in this situation, “the Chief Labour Officer shall invite the unions concerned to a meeting to determine the date, venue and the mode of the verification exercise to determine the union with the majority of votes to be issued with a Bargaining Certificate”. The Committee notes however that, according to the Labour Regulations available on the ILO NATLEX database, section 10.1 of the Regulations provides that “the Chief Labour Officer shall invite the unions to a meeting to undertake verification to determine which union represents the majority of the workers to be issued with a bargaining certificate”. The Committee requests the Government to take measures to ensure that the legislation clearly provides for an election with a view to determining the most representative union for the purposes of collective bargaining in the event of plurality of trade unions. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any developments in this regard.