Government and Organised Labour to finalise salary negotiation by end of August
Salary negotiations between government and Organised Labour are expected to conclude within the next three weeks.
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This assurance is coming from the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), which has also appealed to unions to moderate their expectations.
Meanwhile, sources within Organised Labour says, they will table more than 50 percent increment as the economy is doing well.
This year, government approved a 10 percent salary increase for over 700,000 public sector workers under the Single Spine Salary Structure. But the increment was met with dissatisfaction from organised labour, who described it as woefully inadequate.
President John Mahama appealed to the unions for patience, but pressure has since mounted for a more significant adjustment.
Sources within organised labour suggest a new demand — an increase of more than 50 percent.
But ahead of fresh negotiations, the Chief Executive Officer of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, Dr. Smith Graham, is urging labour to be considerate.
“So, we will negotiate and come to a consensus so labour can come with whatever proposal. You are mentioning 50 percent, labour has not proposed any such thing to us so as far as we are concerned, we are going to negotiate and what we come out with the consensus will be what we go with. By the close of the month, we should be able to conclude,” Dr Graham said.
The Minister of Labour, Jobs and Employment, Dr. Rashid Pelpuo, also joined the call for restraint, encouraging unions to consider the broader economic implications during salary negotiations.
“We know that the time is getting closer, we need to do it before January even before December. We are eager to make sure we take all issues under considerations that have direct impact on labour earnings. Taking all into consideration, what has the cedi done of late? What has inflation done of late? What is the total cost of living is it affecting them so much so that what they earn today will not be equal to what they will earn next year. We will take all that into consideration and negotiate,” Dr Pelpuo explained.
Meanwhile, the conversation around pay disparities continues to dominate the labour space, with renewed calls for the establishment of an Emoluments Commission.
According to Dr. Smith Graham, the Commission, once set up, could be the long-term solution to Ghana’s persistent wage-related disputes.
“The labour agitations are based on the inequities that exist. These ones we are resolving them on a daily basis, every single day we resolve one issue or the other so we will continue resolving the issues as we move on to the implementation of the independent emolument commission,” he said.
“It is not something that is going to take too long, we hope to conclude the Independent Emolument Commission as early as possible so that we can bring on board a holitistic review of the Single Spine Salary Structure,” he added.
Dr Graham further noted that, “the Independent Emolument Commission will help address all labour agitations. The fact that it is going to be a constitutional body is a very important thing. If you have constitutional body, it takes away some of the influences that are likely to come outside the mainstream negotiations and again because Article 71 is coming on board. Nobody can complain that the Article 71 office holders are being cheated than all the public servants”.
In a related development, the Minister for Labour has inaugurated a new board for the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission. The board is expected to help streamline engagement between government and labour, ensuring a more collaborative and transparent process.
3news.com
