The right of persons to join or form associations for any meaningful and
lawful goals and objectives is one of the fundamentals of a democratic
society. To repudiate this right is to take away one of the key
essential principles upon which any community is founded.
Almost every democratic institution provides for the freedom of
associations for individuals in the state and this regards the safety
and the protection of interests.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No. 87, on
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise 1948,
stipulates in Article 2 that “Workers and employers, without distinction
whatsoever, shall have the right to establish and subject only to the
rules of the organisation concerned, to join organisations of their own
choosing without previous authorisation”.
And as defined by 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, Article
21(1), “Freedom of association, shall include freedom to form or join
trade unions or other associations, national and international, for the
protection of their interests.”
Basically, trade unions are formed for the reason that workers, and
for that matter employees, see the need to join hands and come together
to foster their mutual interests on the grounds of collective
engagements and work.
Intuitively, the goals of trade unions vary from time to time and
from state to state. Nonetheless, the focal drive may be pinged on the
enrichments in the standard of living of workers and their working
conditions.
Trade union formations may also be reasoned on the improvements of
the occupational status of workers and for the protection and the
delivery of their safety.
According to Obeng-Ofosu (2015), Sidney and Beatrice Webb indicate a
classic description of a trade union in their second edition of their
book the history of trade unionism as “a continuous association of wage
earners for the purpose of maintaining and improving the conditions of
their working lives.”
In recent times, the Ghana Labour Act, 2003, (Act 651), defines trade
unions as an association of workers with the primary aim of promoting
and protecting their economic and social interests and that their union
may be based on the classes of workers specified and determined by
agreement between the employer and the trade unions.
A trade union, according to sections 83 and 84 of the Ghana Labour
Act, 2003(Act 651), must apply in writing to the Chief Labour Officer to
be registered.
The application for the registration, among other things, shall
include the constitution, names of officers, office address and rules of
the trade union or employers’ organisation. If the Chief Labour Officer
is satisfied in considering the application, he/she shall register and
issue a certificate to the trade union.
Traits of Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)
Collective bargaining is an aspect of negotiations that is related to
the employment relationship. It is precisely an industrial relations
machinery or platform. It is a process used by trade unions to advance
the standings and conditions of employment of their memberships.
Collective bargaining strives to reestablish the uneven bargaining
standing between the employer and employee. Indeed, the International
Labour Organisation (ILO) right to organise and collective bargaining
convention (No. 98), 1949, defines collective bargaining as “Voluntary
negotiation between employers or employers’ organisation and workers’
organisation, with a view to the regulation of terms and conditions of
employment by collective agreements.”
Collective bargaining can thus possibly be defined as consultations
in connection with the positions and terms of engagement and conditions
of work between an employer and employees or between an employers’
organisation on one hand, and the representative workers’ organisation
on the other, with the aim of arriving at a contract.
Rightly, in collective bargaining or agreements, the union at most
times has a collective interest since the dialogues are for the profit
of a number of staff.
A trade union that wants to acquire a collective bargaining
certificate by law is obliged to make an application to the Registrar of
Trade Unions for a certificate employing that trade union as the
mandated representative to conduct negotiations on behalf of the class
of workers stated in the collective bargaining certificate with the
employers of the workers.
According to Ghana’s labour law, Act 651, the application should
cover the depiction of the class of workers and the assessed number of
workers of that class who are members of that trade union.
Thus, a certified trade union inevitably obtains acknowledgement as
soon as it is able to unite its workers within the confines of a
particular establishment.
Thereafter, it would apply to the Chief Labour Officer, through the
Trades Union Congress, indicating its officers’ names in the
organisation, for a collective bargaining certificate.
The acquisition of the collective bargaining certificate is published
in the gazette according to law and this accord the union the
recognition and the legal mandate or authority to the Joint Standing
Negotiation Committee between the employer and the union for the resolve
of discussing all important matters relating to the work relations
within the firm.
Significantly, it ought to be stressed out that bi-partite
negotiation for collective agreement is adequately acknowledged in Ghana
and, therefore, governments hardly inhibits the process of collective
bargaining between employers and the unions.
Pursuant to Ghana’s Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), the duration of the
collective bargaining agreement issued, is at least for a year. By the
provisions of the labour law, it should encompass an establishment for
the final and conclusive settlement of any disagreements between the
parties to whom the agreement applies.
If no notice is given by either party to the agreement within thirty
days (30) after its term or cessation of the collective agreement so as
to start fresh negotiations on the need be, the collective agreement is
considered to have continued in forced until repealed by the parties to
the bargain.
Hence, the terms of contract of engagement or employment in the
bargaining agreement/document shall continue to have effect even after
the provisions of the agreement have ceased to have effect, so long as
those provisions have not been repealed by the agreeing parties.
Important structures to consider
It is vital to note that collective bargaining is a form of
participation by both employers and employees. Both parties join in and
participate in determining what portion and percentage of the ‘pie’ is
to be shared by the parties entitled to a piece.
It allows the sharing of the rule-making power between employers and
the union in areas which hitherto was considered as management
prerogatives, especially on work assignments, transfers, retrenchments,
lay-offs and promotions.
It is to be emphasised that collective bargaining creates a dynamic
and productive relationship between the union and management and that
this leads to dialogue and consensus building rather than conflicts and
hostilities at the labour front.
Source : http://www.graphic.com.gh
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