General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Thomas Musah, has revealed that it has become imperative for workers in the country to be cushioned by government.
According to him, the increasing hardship in the country has compelled labour unions to agitate and demand some respite from government, in the form of 20% Cost of Living Allowance (COLA). He explained that the unions are hopeful government will succumb to their request.
“… It is our hope and expectation that given the current environment and the economic hardship and depression that workers are enduring, something must be done to cushion them. Don’t let us forget that in 2021, we made huge sacrifices and in this particular year also, huge sacrifices were made. So, in the light of all these things, it has become necessary and critical that workers be cushioned.”
Thomas Musah
Commenting on the meeting between leadership of the labour union and government, Mr Musah indicated that the unions are not aware “there’s no money” for government to pay workers their COLA. He highlighted that their request and engagement with government “predates the coming of the IMF”.
“… But for now [and] at yesterday’s meeting, it ended in a deadlock and we all agreed that a new date will be scheduled. When the new date is scheduled, same will be communicated by government to the side of organised labour and we will meet and take it up from there. That is what is on the table…
Thomas Musah
Labour union presses home demand for COLA
The GNAT General Secretary recounted that the issue tabled before government are “old issues” which leadership of labour unions have made known to government without appropriate redress. He emphasized that no positive result came out of their petition and “so that has brought us where we are today and we have to embark on this industrial action”.
“… As far back as February, we started raising concerns, articulating what must be done among other things. 1st May at the independence square during the May Day parade, Dr Yaw Baah articulated clearly the issues of the working population and it came up that there was the need for some kind of COLA to be paid of 20%. All these things were articulated, nothing happened [and] then we served notice. This time, it was not even the national leaders but it was across the districts, the regions and all that. They all started the agitation that look, by the close of June, we expect appropriate response from the government.”
Thomas Musah
Mr Musah stated that during the meeting, government confirmed there was no money to cater to the demands of teachers. He however noted that, the unions made its stance clear on the critical reasons why government must pay teachers.
“Normally, when you engage in negotiations, you always expect that. You don’t expect the other party to come and tell you that I have more than enough… So, once that has come up, it is not anything that is not known in social dialogue; so, it came up. But we made it clear to them that, yes, it is their right and it is also part of social dialogue for them to express those sentiments.”
Thomas Musah
Human security, Mr Musah emphasized, is one of the fundamental reasons for workers demand for COLA. He revealed that the issues of human security are an integral part of national security.
“To that extent that people are actually suffering under the current economic hardship, we think that something must be done for workers; given the kind of sacrifices they made as far back as 2021 and 2022.”
Thomas Musah
