The General Secretary of the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU), Morgan Ayawine has said for a local union to traverse and survive a quadrennial fraught with numerous challenges and come out unscathed is no mean achievement.
This has been the character and strength of the ICU Local Union of Absa Bank Ghana, for which the mother Union (ICU-Ghana), is most appreciative and gives you the thumbs up.
He said this at the quadrennial delegates’ conference of the local union.
Mr Ayawine said ” you would take stock of your stewardship for the past four years, and then map out new programmes and strategies that would reposition the Absa Bank Ghana Local Union.
“To avoid past mistakes and pre-empt recurring challenges in Union- Management relationship, it would be advisable for Union leaders to tap into the experiences of their predecessors/others and the lessons learnt, would guide you in your relationship with our social partners that would impact positively on organizational goals of the Bank.
“As the theme for the Conference: “The Bank’s Sustainability, The Union’s Concern” eloquently suggests, the essence and relevance of a union at the workplace is primarily to relate to and collaborate with the Management of the organization for increased productivity and maximization of profit for the sustainability of the business that would inure to the mutual benefit of the owners of the business and the workers whose sweat produced the profit.”
He added “It is for this reason that the theme for this Conference could not have been more appropriate and relevant, considering the new world of work precipitated by the emergence of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
“I therefore charge you as a Union, to be circumspect, sincere and honest in your relationship with Management so as to ensure a harmonious co-existence that would materialize in the achievement of organizational goals of the Bank and the expectations of the Union for better conditions of service and job security.
“I believe that the Akan adage which literally translates that, “As you advise the cat, you should likewise advise the fish”; to wit, do to others what you would like them to do for you, is very pertinent here. Simply put, optimal Union-Management relationship is a shared responsibility, and so we need to regularly address ourselves to that for optimum results.
“In that vein, I would respectfully like to advise Management also not to side step the Collective Agreement and the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651 ) in relating to your staff on any issue(s) concerning staff’s Conditions of Service and terms of employment and non-employment. In matters of discipline, grievances and disputes Management should not take unilateral actions, but conform to the dictates of the Collective Agreement and the Labour Act.
“Again, I can safely posit that we have advanced into an era of Industrial Democracy and, as such, Capital and Labour have become Equal Partners. So, one party in the equation cannot and should not impose itself over the other in that equal relationship, but both must collaborate on equal terms, in an atmosphere of give and take, for a sustainable industrial peace, harmony and progress at the workplace.
“As you go into your deliberations and conduct of election to put a new executive committee of ICU-Ghana Local Union of Absa Bank Ghana into office to steer the affairs of the Union for a four-year term, I urge you the delegates to be discerning in your choice of leadership for the Union, having personally considered and assessed their capacity for the executive positions they are bidding for, and how their capabilities can influence Union-Management relationship positively both at the Local and National levels that would inure to the mutual good of the Bank and the Union.”
Source: 3news.com|Ghana