A Labour Expert, Austin Gamey, has said that the system where retirees were given contract extensions was abused.
He says he is in favour of the suspension of the contracts to retirees.
“We don’t want to be putting people [retirees] on contracts for 2 years, it is an abuse and depriving young people,” he said on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday, April 12.
Mr Gamey further asked organised labour to focus on training and retaining young workers by experienced workers on the verge of retirement.
He said there are millions of young people who need jobs and contribute to the growth of the country
His comment come at a time when organised labour has urged President John Mahama to conduct extensive consultations prior to the rollout of the directive that suspends the granting of contract extension to retired public servants.
The labour representatives argue that the directive has sparked unrest among workers, who express concerns over the potential loss of experienced superiors, individuals with deep knowledge of the workings of the public and civil services.
The leadership from the labour unions spoke exclusively with 3news’ Labour Affairs Correspondent, Daniel Opoku, in Accra on April 8.
Over the years, many public and civil services employees who reach retirement age have had their contracts extended to retain their expertise.
In Ghana’s public and civil services, over 700,000 workers are currently employed, each year, more than 1,000 of them retire.
However, recent developments have raised concerns, as President John Dramani Mahama has issued a directive to suspend post-retirement employment. The directive has been met with discontent from some leaders of Organised Labour.
The Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Joshua Ansah, said the directive should not take immediate effect.
“It is quite explicit in the constitution and also Labour Act regarding how we should manage people with reference to retirement issues and concerning how people can be employed even if they retire
“They may have a genuine reason for raising it, but we will educate and assist our countrymen to appreciate that it is not the intention of the executive to deliberately disengage people of 60 years who are supposed to be on retirement.”
He stressed “Organised labour should be interested in training workers, we should stop clamouring for people to stay over and above their age.”
