The Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Dr Yaw Baah, has welcomed the new minimum wage agreed upon by the national tripartite committee.
According to him, although the process has been very hectic, the committee has managed to conclude the difficult discussions. He explained that it is difficult because the conditions Ghanaian workers find themselves in are not what is expected.
Dr Baah revealed that ideally, the country should have lower inflation so that salaries will be protected. Nonetheless, he noted that in the last few months, there have been situations where inflation is going up. Owing to this, he urged Ghanaians to come together and ensure workers, employers and government come out of the economic crisis, even as Congress is “hoping that 2023 will be a better year than 2022”.
“I will first of all thank our partners, government and employers for working together with us in the last three days. It is on this note that I would like to appeal to all of us – workers, employers and government, to continue to work together in the spirit of peace so that we can get out of this. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter how much you offer your employees, how much government offers employees, it will still not take us home. That is why we should work together.”
Dr Yaw Baah
The TUC Secretary General expressed optimism that the new wage will cushion workers a little bit.
“This is the time we need this. So, from 2023 as we expect better times, we hope that this will cushion the workers further.”
Dr Yaw Baah
Announcement of new minimum wage
Dr Baah’s comments followed the announcement by the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffuor Awuah, that the national daily minimum wage has been increased from GHC13.53 in 2022 to GHC14.88 for the year 2023.
Organized Labour, the Ghana Employers Association and government had been meeting on the determination of the national daily minimum wage for 2023 since Monday, November 14.
The Minister, during a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, November 16, 2022, stated that the national tripartite committee concluded the negotiations and “think this is the best time to communicate to Ghanaians on the outcome of the negotiations”.
The committee, he highlighted, took into account the current economic challenges, cost of living, sustainability of businesses and desirability of attaining higher levels of employment.
“The committee concluded on the need to increase the national daily minimum wage by 10 per cent over the 2022 national daily minimum wage which translates into new national daily minimum wage of GH¢14.88 pesewas and a cost of living allowance of 15 per cent over the 2023 national daily minimum wage.”
Ignatius Baffuor Awuah
Mr Awuah indicated that the effective date for the implementation of the 2023 national daily minimum wage shall be 1st January, 2023. He emphasized that all establishments, institutions and organizations whose daily minimum wages are below the new rate should adjust accordingly.
READ ALSO: Cost To Revamp TOR And Provide Capital For Operations Estimated At $500 Million
