The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called on government to immediately schedule a stakeholders’ forum to discuss and review upward the low lump-sum benefits and related issues of pensioners.
In a statement signed by the Secretary General of the Union, Dr. Yaw Baah, it stated that persons who retired from January 2020 and beyond are worse off as compared to the old pension system.
Reasons for this mishap the Union blames on what it purports to be an incredibly low lump-sums and benefits given to the recent retirees. As a consequence, there was palpable fear that workers who would retire in 2020 and beyond might be worse-off.
Many workers, the statement read, had retired on the three-tier pension scheme with harrowing experience.
“Pension Payment Statements we have gathered from some of our members who retired in 2020 show that they are worse-off because their lump sum benefits are far lower than what they would have received if they had retired under PNDC Law 247. This is unfair and unjustifiable.
“Many workers have retired on the three-tier pension scheme with harrowing experience. Pension Payment Statements we have gathered from some of our members who retired in 2020 show that they are worse off because their lump sum benefits are far lower than what they would have received if they had retired under PNDC Law 247.”
In an effort to mitigate the strain of its impact on pensioners, TUC had proposed a stakeholder forum on pensions in 2019 but according to them, “regrettably, no forum was held and these issues remain unresolved.”
The Social Security and National Security Insurance Trust (SSNIT) announced an 11 percent increment in monthly pensions in the year 2020.
Accordingly, it encompasses 6.6 percent fixed-rate and a flat amount of GHS37.38 added to all pensioners’ salary which makes up the remaining 4.4 percent.
“The pension reforms that gave birth to the current pension system was premised on the idea of enhancing retirement income for workers. Therefore, no retiree should be worse-off compared to the old pension system,” the TUC stressed.
In spite of past disappointment, the Trade Union Congress further called on government to “once again, convene a Stakeholder Forum to discuss the low lump sum benefits and related issues, without further delay.”
“We would like to reiterate TUC’s full commitment to social dialogue on all labour and related issues. We believe that, together, we can address the concerns of all stakeholders amicably and keep the relative peace at the labour front.”
The TUC further urged the government to institute special measures to protect elderly women in Ghana in the wake of the killing of Akua Denteh, a 90-year-old woman accused of Witchcraft at Kafaba in the Savannah Region.
“Government must implement a special programme that provides basic income, housing and other amenities for the aged including those suffering in the so-called witch camps in some parts of the country,” it said.
