Use mediation to resolve labour issues — Austin Gamey
A labour consultant and analyst, Mr Austin A. Gamey, has urged workers in the country to seek mediation in resolving their labour issues.
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According to him, labour concerns could be resolved within a day, provided the appropriate steps and measures were taken in dealing with the matters.
Mr Gamey, who is an Appropriate Dispute Resolution (ADR) expert, indicated that continued strike actions by workers affected productivity and the national economy as a whole, and so should be avoided.
He also opined that managers, leaders, business owners and Chief Executive Offices (CEOs) of institutions and companies ought to enrich themselves with the knowledge of mediation and arbitration in order to resolve umpires that might erupt between them and their employees.
Mr Gamey was speaking in an exclusive interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra concerning the inaugural alumni conference of the Gamey and Gamey Academy of Mediation (GGAM).
First alumni conference
The inaugural alumni conference is scheduled for Friday, May 22 to Saturday, May 23, 2015 at the Accra International Conference.
It will seek to bring together participants in the professional executive ADR programme of the GGAM to deliberate on issues that will help advance the cause of the academy.
The conference will also seek to assess the progress of alumni members, their challenges and share best practices, as well as network and map out future directions as far as the application of ADR in Ghana and Africa is concerned.
It will also be used to mentor and coach mediators of the academy in order to push the agenda of ADR across the continent.
“There is the need to mentor professionals for the next line of mediation and arbitration, and that is what this conference will seek to do,” Mr Gamey said.
It will also be used to establish a strong database of alumni members.
Speakers
A Keynote address would be delivered by Ghana’s Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, while Professor Kofi Kumado of the University of Ghana Law Faculty would chair the function.
Other labour and Human Resource (HR) experts, including Mr Gamey himself, are billed to speak at the two-day seminar.
It will also come with a workshop on the people using language effectively (PULSE) concept of mediation for participants.
Establishment of GGAM
Since its establishment in 2003, the GGAM has trained over 250 mediators and arbitrators from Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone from various business cycles.
It was established to promote peace in managing people, especially in institutions efficiently and effectively.
The institution engages professionals such as lawyers, journalists, lecturers, doctors, nurses and bankers in consultancy and training in ADR, Industrial Relations (IR), HR Management Solutions and Productivity.
