The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has expressed the need for government to increase the salaries of workers, particularly those on the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) in the country.
According to the Congress, anything short of that will push many public sector workers and their families into severe poverty and destitution.
Speaking at a press conference today, December 12, 2022, the General Secretary of TUC, Dr Anthony Yaw Baah, indicated that in the Salaries of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), the Minister for Finance announced government’s decision to impose “a cap on salary adjustment of SOEs to be lower than negotiated base pay increase…”
With this, Dr Baah revealed that the surge in inflation has completely eroded the purchasing power of workers, especially those in the public service and the value of the cost-of-living-allowance (COLA) granted in July 2022 has been completely wiped out.
“Workers on the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) are receiving the lowest salaries in the public sector. It is time for a substantial increase in salaries for workers, especially those on the Single Spine Salary Structure who are providing important public services such as health, education, security and other public/civil services. That is why we will continue to demand a realistic pay increase that reflects current inflationary trends in the ongoing public sector pay negotiations.”
Dr Anthony Yaw Baah,
Dr Baah explained that the problem is not with the salaries for workers in the SOEs but the fact is that salaries on the Single Spine Salary Structure are unjustifiably low. Therefore, he noted that the single spine structure should not be the standard for resetting salaries in the public sector.
The General Secretary of TUC called for a more realistic approach to raise salaries on the single spine structure to match salaries on the structures being implemented by the SOEs for their staff.
“We further remind government that salaries in the SOEs are determined within a collective bargaining framework. Government cannot unilaterally impose salary caps on unionized workers. We use this occasion to caution government that we will resist any attempt to take away the bargaining right of our members in the SOEs. A major source of pay inequality in the public sector has to do with salaries for chief executives and management staff of the SOEs. As we have pointed out time and again 5 CEOs of some SOEs are earning multiple times the salary of the President of the Republic of Ghana who appointed them.”
Dr Anthony Yaw Baah,
Any cap on salary adjustment in the SOEs, Dr Baah indicated, should be directed to the salaries and allowances of the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and management staff as well as other political appointees. He noted that these are the people whose large salaries and allowances are impossible to reconcile with their outputs.
“This is particularly true for the SOEs that are making perennial losses. PENSIONS We recall that at the 2020 May Day National Parade which was held at the forecourt of the Trade Union Hall, President Akufo-Addo promised to top up the lump sum of workers who received lower lump sums compared to what they would have received if they had retired under the old pension law – PNDL 247.”
Dr Anthony Yaw Baah,
TUC reiterates call for government to stay away from pension funds
Commenting on the debt exchange programme, he emphasized the TUC’s calls for government to steer clear off the pension funds of its members. He noted that the pension funds of its members will not be part of the debt exchange programme
Dr Baah stated that the leadership has analyzed the debt exchange programme and after a thorough analysis of the programme and a very extensive discussion among the leadership of TUC and affiliates, their conclusion is very firm.
“Already, pension is low, and we would have thought that our government will do everything to protect the small pension we have. Instead, they are introducing programme inspired by the International Monetary Fund to cut further pension income. Therefore, the Trades Union Congress and all its affiliates have decided that the pension funds of our members will not be part of the domestic debt exchange programme.”
Dr Anthony Yaw Baah,
Dr Baah explained that the Union has written to the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, demanding that all pension funds invested in government bonds should be removed from the domestic exchange programme.
The TUC General Secretary urged the government to show leadership by reducing what they term the “humongous” size of government. With this, he questioned why some ministries have as many as three deputies and also demanded that government reverses its decision to freeze employment in the public sector.
“This is the time to create jobs, not to freeze jobs. Already too many workers are losing their jobs in the private sector. To close the public sector to new entrants is a stab in the back of young Ghanaians who have been educated at great costs to their families and to the nation. What is the point of free SHS if graduates cannot secure jobs? Moreover, employment freeze will negatively affect public service delivery.”
Dr Anthony Yaw Baah,
Dr Baah stated that as thousands of workers retire every year and government fails to replace them, existing workers will be overburdened. This, he stated, will negatively affect their performance and demanded that government reverses the decision to freeze employment in the public sector.
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