Organized labour is expected to meet government today to continue negotiations on the proposal for a 60 percent increment in the base pay of the single spine salary structure for 2023.
Organized labour says the proposed 60 percent is intended to help workers deal with the rising cost of living as a result of high inflation.
The third meeting with government on Tuesday ended inconclusively, although the 2023 budget reading has been scheduled for Thursday, November 24, 2022.
Deputy General Secretary of TUC, Joshua Ansah, said their demands are reasonable.
“The law says that, finish negotiations by April so that the budget is read in November. So it is not our fault that negotiations have not been concluded and whether or not the budget will be read or not. We are all workers, and we know the inflation and economic challenges in this country. The situation is unbearable.”
The public sector workers explained that the daily base pay is lower than the government’s newly announced daily minimum wage of GH¢14.88.
Organised labour insists that its leadership will not back down on the proposed 60 percent rise in base pay.
In 2021, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) agreed on the base pay increments for public sector workers, as part of labour negotiations with the government.
However, after the agreement, some members of the labour unions expressed their disappointment at the percentage increase, saying it was too small.
Members of a coalition made up of public sector workers thus protested in 2021 to express their anger and demand an upward review of public sector salaries.
They insisted that the four and seven per cent increment were woefully inadequate for their survival, considering the current economic hardship.
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