Ghana’s numerous workers strikes; a cause for concern

It is undoubtful that the growth of every economy depends on the strength and commitment of its labour force. This therefore suggests that where the labour force is unstable with erratic performance usually marred by constant strikes, the growth of a country’s economy would be dwindling. The public sector has been characterized with strike actions following the introduction of the single spine salary structure. The first quarter of 2013 has witnessed several labour agitations mainly within the education and health sectors in Ghana. They have been asking for better conditions of service and the timely payment of arrears. Despite the role the labour force contributes to the growth of the economy, there is very little efforts from previous and succeeding governments to find lasting solution to these strike actions that occur very frequently. This study therefore, sought to contribute to knowledge about the underlying factors that cause the frequent strike actions in Ghana, some limitations of the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) and to discuss the adjudication of labour issues and resolution of labour disputes. To verify these concerns therefore, views were sampled from individuals, executives of some labour unions, the internet (ghanaweb, google, myjoyonline, citinews etc), Ghanaian newspapers and commentaries on the current labour issues in Ghana and review of some works on labour relations. Amongst the more important findings was the fact that there must be a greater awareness of worker needs, values and objectives and the best way to handle strikes is to prevent them from occurring in the first place but when they (strikes) occur, management should be more proactive to investigate and manage the grievances by instituting effective communication approaches between management and employees and constantly monitoring working conditions to see what further types of improvements could be introduced to minimize strike actions. The paper recommends that participatory management decision making processes should be applied using the Alternative Dispute Resolution process to resolve the issues emanating from the research particularly relating to workers’ strikes.