A youth activist of the ruling National Democratic Congress, Mustapha Gbande have called on the labor Unions in the country not to be provoked by disparaging statements been paraded in the media, but rather, should concentrate on ongoing negotiations with the appropriate authorities to resolve all outstanding issues concerning their salaries and allowances.
Whiles condemning a recent inflammatory statement made by the former NPP member of Parliament for Asokwa, Maxwell Kofi Jumah which sought to portray striking Teachers and Doctors as second class citizens, the outspoken and seemingly abrasive young politician noted that it would have been more than proper for the labor unions, especially Teachers and Doctors to turn a deaf ear to all the provocative pronouncements in the media with respect to their strike and focus on working with government to get all their issues resolved with the needed expediency.
In an interview with The Al-Hajj, Mr Gbande noted that, there is no denying fact that there are crisis on the labor front, but the more refreshing news, according to him is how the government, particularly the President has shown grave commitment to getting the issues resolved urgently.
�For some time now, the President together with Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, the Labour Commission, Controller and Accountant Generals Department and the various striking Unions have been meeting behind closed doors to get the issues relating to salaries and allowances solved once and for all� he revealed
According to him, it is so needless to be castigating Teachers and Doctors because they are on strike, especially when no meaner person than the President has given the strongest assurance that the government was willing to sit down with workers, including teachers and doctors, to resolve all outstanding issues concerning their conditions of service.
�The attempt by some person or group of persons to litter the media airwaves with lot of mischievous remarks intended to stoke the fire and aggravate on the labor front is something that must be condemned by all� the likes of Maxwell Kofi Jumah who would want to put the interest of MPs above Teachers and Doctors and any other worker is just unfortunate,� Mustapha Gbande stated.
Over the past few months, there has been unrest at the labor front with the Ghana National Association of Teachers, the National Association of Graduate Teachers and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers embarking on a strike which took government over a week to resolve.
Even before government could have some breather after managing to get the striking teachers back to the classroom, University Teachers and Doctors have also laid down their tools, a development that coincided with a payment of ex-gratia to Members of Parliament.
Responding to public outcry about the payment of the $100,000 ex-gratia to former MPs of which the former Asokwa MP is a beneficiary, at a time when teachers and doctors are agitating for the payment of salaries and allowances they have worked for, Kofi Jumah said medical doctors and teachers cannot compare themselves with legislators because MPs are on a higher pedestal as compared to the two professions, a statement government in a release has also condemned.
But on his part, Mustapha Gbande accused Kofi Jumah of deliberately and needlessly making such remarks to infuriate the Teachers and Doctors in order to put pressure on the government not to be able to have a smooth engagement with the two public sector Unions.
�I sincerely call on the teachers and Doctors to ignore people like Maxwell Kofi Jumah and others who think like him. I call on them to fully commit themselves to the ongoing negotiations with government, the FWSC, the CAGD and all the appropriate institutions to get all their outstanding issues dealt with expeditiously.
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