The National Labour Commission (NLC) has directed workers of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) to suspend their ongoing strike action.

The GHA workers started indefinite strike action on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, in protest against the implementation of the National Roads Authority Act, 2024 (Act 1118).

The workers argued that the Act, which seeks to merge the GHA with the Department of Urban Roads and the Department of Feeder Roads, would reduce the Authority’s autonomy and increase bureaucratic inefficiency.

At the heart of the dispute is a demand for the removal of two key officials: Ing. I.K. Mensah, the Chairman of the Ghana Highway Authority (GHA) Board, and Ing. Collins B. Donkor, the Chief Executive Officer of the NRA.

The workers argue that these officials have been complicit in decisions that threaten the integrity of the roads sector.

This latest development follows a formal petition to the president, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in which workers called for broader consultations before proceeding with the implementation of the new Act.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the NLC emphasized the need for the GHA workers to suspend their industrial action while negotiations continue.

It said it met both parties in caucus sessions and observed that the respondents (GHA workers) did not follow due process under the Labour Act, 2023 (Act 651) regarding their intended industrial action.

The NLC therefore directed that “The respondents—Ghana Highway Authority, Senior Staff Association, and the Divisional Union of Construction and Building Materials Workers Union of GHA (CBMWU-TUC)—are to follow the due process.”

“Whilst waiting for respondents to follow the due process, they must suspend any and/or all intended industrial action.”

Source: Citinewsroom.com