Those who don?t work must not be paid
Folks, Brigadier-General Joseph Nunoo-Mensah is in the news again for almost the very reasons that some might claim cost him his job as the National Security Adviser. He is now the Head of the Human Security Department of the National Security Council Secretariat, whatever that may mean.
He is reported to have stated categorically that the government should suspend salaries of striking Polytechnic teachers in Ghana. Not only that. He seems to be suggesting that workers who lay down their tools shouldn’t be paid for the period that they didn’t work. I agree a zillion per cent with him.
(See:http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=320088)
In our part of the world, there is too much laxity, which allows anybody at all with any grievance to do things that negatively affect productivity. Of course, workers are free to fight for better conditions of service, but not to be given any blank cheque to behave as if there is no law to restrict or regulate behaviour at the workplace.
There are labour laws in Ghana that clearly spell out what should be done as far as labour agitations and many other issues are concerned. There is even the provision that a worker who absents himself/herself from work (whether as a result of embarking on industrial action or not) for 15 days should count himself/herself as automatically dismissed. Correct me, dear reader, if you think I am wrong.
This regulation notwithstanding, what has been happening in Ghana is troubling because workers choose to lay down their tools at the least prompting and disregard all entreaties to pick them up while negotiating with the authorities. And they continue to be paid for doing no work. Is this not madness?
I recall an occasion three years ago when we (the university professors) disagreed with management’s position on a provision in our collective bargaining agreement and picketted for three or so days, withdrawing our services, and insisting that the right thing be done.
You know what happened? After consultations here and there, our Union managed to strike some compromise (which didn’t even work to our advantage that much) and we returned to work. We were not let free by management.
Our salaries were docked (meaning that we were made to pay for the period that we didn’t teach) and we lost hundreds of dollars. Deductions from our salaries were made for three or so months to account for lost productivity. That happened in the United States of America!!
You can imagine what would have happened had we prolonged our picketting to a month or beyond.
Now, back to the Ghanaian situation, where nobody enforces labour laws to serve the country’s best interests. What General Nunoo-Mensah has set in motion is laudable and should be taken up the government, the leaders of organized labour, and employers. If behaviour is regulated, it should help instill discipline into the labour movement and ensure that personal interests are not placed above those of the country or the employers and the business enterprises.
This strike action buy POTAG is particularly troubling just because it was prompted by an issue that should have been dealt with had the government stood firm to abolish that research and book allowance thing and replaced it with a Research Fund or whatever else will take care of this wholesale doling out of cash to underserving beneficiaries. Where is the evidence of their research work over the years that they?ve been given this allowance? No value for money!!
I have been told that when the POTAG president was asked about the purpose of the research and book allowance, he claimed it is lesson note writing allowance. Nonsense! Absolute nonsense!! Doesn’t teaching involve “note writing” and other forms of preparation for one’s schedule? Should such a schedule be split up and its various components compensated as such?
You see, the problem is that such “grandfather’s notes” end up being put together as pamphlets that are sold to the students and exam questions based on them (just to force the students to buy such pamphlets). No ethics at all.
Where I teach, there is no way any of us can put together pamphlets or books to sell to our students taking courses that we teach. It is highly unethical for one to do so and one will be punished severely if it happens.
A teacher is paid for teaching and teaching involves a lot more than “note taking”. Who says that salaries are sufficient anywhere in the world? But there are better ways to keep afloat other than what is happening at the POTAG/UTAG or Ghana Medical Association (GMA) front. There is always talk of this allowance, that allowance, our allowances, and what-have-you! Too much politicking involved in such issues.
In Ghana, the payment of that so-called research and book allowance is unwarranted by performance. Where is the evidence that the allowance is being put to good use and not used to cushion these beneficiaries in many ways other than academic work?
Those who need to do research should look for grants (whether from their own institutions or elsewhere) as happens in other countries. The government must abolish this “research and book allowance” and instead create a fund for research purposes into which money should be lodged and properly managed/monitored.
The rigours for accessing/benefiting from such a Research Fund must be clearly spelt out. Anybody intending to do a research project must write a grant proposal to be heavily scrutinized to determine the feasibility of the research project and its benefits to our society before being given funds.
Even then, a clear policy on management of the Research Fund must be established so anybody who benefits from the fund can account for its use. If the government establishes a workable mechanism for such a fund, the situation should change for the better.
Enforcing the labour laws that way means that the government must also be fair in its dealings with labour. It must be honest in any transaction with workers and ensure that only the best is given workers. Then, it will have a good justification to not pay any group of workers laying down their tools.
He who does not work so must he not eat, the Christian Bible admonishes. Let’s enforce this principle for our own good. Ours is not yet a welfare state, meaning that only those who work must be paid. The government has to be firm and decisive to end this abuse of opportunity.
I shall return?
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