Thinking Aloud: Thoughtless action
There are many workers who were below 55 years when the two tier pension scheme became operational in 2010.
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Many do not know that their contributions are part of the money over which some labour groups have embarked upon a strike action. The interests in the cause of the strike are far greater than those on strike.
That is why the government must demonstrate dexterity in handling the issues to get the workers back to work permanently. And no matter what any other Ghanaian says, my personal opinion is that the initial action by the government to litigate with the striking workers in open court was thoughtless.
That may explain why after engaging the groups in discussions, the government breached good faith in seeking an interlocutory injunction to get the workers back to work.
Indeed, the government should have gone to court when the workers threatened to strike. Then the government could have secured the interim injunction to restrain the workers from laying down their tools whilst genuine negotiations proceeded. But that did not happen and long after the workers had taken to the streets, the government filed the suit.
Frustration of government
That it took the Minister of Communications, Dr Omane Boamah, to remind the affected workers to not flout a lawful court order demonstrates a certain frustration of the government over the needless controversy and thoughtless action.
One thing that the government could have done to win public confidence and get public opinion against the industrial action was for the President to have cut short his foreign travel and return home to appeal to the workers to suspend the strike while negotiations proceeded. If that had happened, the workers would have been ashamed to have continued their action. They would have lost face with the generality of Ghanaians.
I do not believe in strike actions as a means of seeking redress to problems. Strikes do not promote mutual trust and confidence. Indeed, as much as workers have the right to embark on an industrial action, they must not expect to be paid for the periods that they do not work.
Cause of strike
Now to the cause of the industrial action. Prior to the strike, there were rumours that the government feared that most of the fund managers had sympathies toward a political persuasion and that giving them the funds to manage was like giving bullets to your enemies to shoot at you.
In the thought of President Paul Biya of Cameroun, I dismissed the rumour; as he puts it , “As for the truth, many of you confuse it with rumours. But rumour is not the truth. Truth comes from above; rumour comes from below.
Rumour is created in unknown places, then spread by thoughtless and often malicious people, people who want to give themselves a spurious importance. Camerounians pay no heed to the rumours which are spreading through the country.”
However, I was forced to rethink because of what I heard on TV3 last Monday. In a discussion between the MP for Adaklu, Mr Kwame Governs Agbodza, and MP for Tema East, Nii Titus-Glover, moderated by Nana Aba Anamoah, Mr Agbodza pointed out that there were disagreements between the government and the workers because the corporate trustees and fund managers preferred by the workers have leanings towards some political persuasion which the government found difficult to deal with.
He explained that he did not want to disclose the names of the companies because if he were to do that, no Ghanaian would be left in any doubt as to the political leanings and persuasions of the owners of those firms.
Mr Agbodza might have expressed a personal view. However, when a Member of Parliament offers such information, it cannot easily be dismissed as an uninformed opinion.
It is equally unhealthy for some to suggest that the industrial action has been motivated by partisan political interests. When we reduce such serious national issues to crass partisanship, we undermine national discourse. Bad government policies affect the interests of all Ghanaians and we need to challenge opaqueness in governance with a united voice rather than in splinters.
Impact on retiring workers
If the impasse is not resolved in time for the National Pensions Regulatory Authority to transfer the contributions on time, those who will retire next year will face problems, irrespective of their political leanings.
As for those who think that negotiations will dilute the law, they need to be told that there is nothing in the law which frowns upon open discourse in national affairs.
For if there are contradictions in the law, these must be interpreted to favour the workers; the government, through the Executive and Legislature, has the power and authority to remove any contradictions.
That is never the responsibility of the workers and therefore the government must pay for any deficiencies in the law to enable it work in the best interest of workers.
