Govt, Labour agree on 30% base pay increase

Government after several negotiations with Organised Labour has increased base pay for the 2023 financial year by 30%.

The increment takes effect from January 1, 2023.

This followed a meeting with Organised Labour yesterday, after several unsuccessful negotiations between both parties.

By this decision, the government said the 15% Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) for public sector workers had ceased.

A meeting between Organized Labour and government over the demand for a 60% increment in base pay on the single spine salary structure had ended inconclusively for the seventh time.

This was a result of the failure of both parties to reach a consensus on the proposed percentage.

Organized Labour explained that the demand for a 60% increase was due to harsh economic conditions.

Engagement

Speaking to Citi News on the sidelines of a media briefing, the Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Bright Wereko-Brobby, explained that “since the beginning of the year, this has been our first meeting, and so we recapped what we have been doing…”

Asked if government would pay arrears, Mr. Wereko-Brobby assured that “anytime we conclude, government will do the needful”.

Organised Labour had rejected claims it was being unreasonable with its insistence on a 60 percent increase in the base pay.

The government’s negotiation with Organised Labour over a new base pay had been suspended indefinitely after both parties failed to reach a consensus.

‘Realistic’

While Organised Labour was demanding 60 percent, government said it could offer only 15 percent.

Many had accused the labour unions of being insensitive, considering the current economic situation, but the Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress, Dr. Yaw Baah thought otherwise.

“We are not being inconsiderate; we are in a crisis, and public sector workers are the ones providing services for over 30 million Ghanaians.

“We do not think we are being unreasonable at all. We want to motivate these people who are working so hard to continue working so hard. That is the only way we can recover,” he had maintained.

Background

Relations between government and Organised Labour had been tensed recently – first, over cost of living issues, then relevant allowances to take care of the global recession and, finally, government’s decision to run the Debt Exchange programme on the wings of public funds, including bonds and pension funds for workers.