Is Democracy Promoting Indiscipline And Acts Of Unpatriotism?

Though Organized Labour Unions per Ghana�s Constitution have the right to embark on strike actions to press home their demands, a member of the communications team of the ruling NDC thinks it will be in the interest of all if they (Labour Unions) reconsider the recommendations made by the committee set up to look into the utility tariff increment. It was reported in the Committee�s findings that the 78% electricity tariff increment imposed on Ghanaians by the Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC) is a bit high, though the tariff cannot go below 60%. Despite the recommendations of the committee, Organized Labour across the nation, will on Monday, November 18, 2013, embark on a nationwide strike action to register their displeasure with the government and the PURC over the current utility tariff increments. The Trade Union Congress (TUC) decided to stage major demonstrations in all regional capitals in the country, during a crunch meeting on Monday. A statement released by the Labor Unions which was signed by seven groups: the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the Ghana National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Polytechnic Administrators Association of Ghana (POTAG), the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU) and the Judicial Services Staff Association of Ghana (JUSSAG) partly read; �We, therefore, have no option but to call on all the working people of Ghana, their families and the good people of Ghana to express their dissatisfaction about the failure on the part of government to reduce utility tariffs to affordable levels�we cannot tolerate such insensitive actions on the part of the so-called independent state institutions��. Speaking on Okay Fm, Gabby Assumeng urged Organized Labour to bear in mind the likely effects of their strike action on productivity. �If all government workers decide to go on strike for one day, can they quantify how much productivity we are going to lose that day? We will drag the country backwards�and this should be the consideration of the Labor Unions,� he pointed out. The NDC communicator, who preferred the use of other means to seek redress than embarking on strike actions, which he believes has resulted in �indiscipline� and lowered patriotism, expressed unhappiness with the way people exercise certain rights under the guise of democracy. ���.if democracy will propagate indiscipline and unpatriotic acts�in the country in the name of strikes, then something will go wrong one day,� he opined.