The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, Fair Wages and Salaries Commission and the National Tripartite Committee have increased public sector workers’ base pay and minimum wage, effective Jan. 1, 2022.
The base pay was increased by seven percent and the daily minimum wage is 13.53 cedis (U.S. $2.24).
Employment and Labour Relations Minister, Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, said the four percent base pay increment which was announced earlier in 2021, will be increased to 7 percent.
“In return, we had to negotiate with the leadership of Organised Labour, and in the process, we had to agree that we had to be modest in our request on the national kitty. The beautiful thing is that we are moving on, and we had agreed that coming into this current year, the 4 percent will no longer exist and that we are going to give workers 7 percent which is an increment. It is my hope and belief that things begin to work better for the economy of our country, so we can give our workforce a better remuneration we can be proud of,” Mr. Awuah said.
In August 2021, Technical Adviser at the Finance Ministry, Dr. Samuel Nii Noi Ashong earlier this year said: “If you look at the budget, Covid-19 is not expected to abate until the end of 2023 and we’re all looking to be tightening our belts for a while and people should not be expecting huge wage increases in the course of the next few years. This is because we don’t have money to pay for it.
He said “You’ll realize that between wages and compensations for employees and unencumbered domestic revenues. If you net up all the mandated transfers which are required by law, talk of GETFund transfers, National Health Insurance, District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF), the rest which is left is not enough to pay for wages and salaries, goods and service, social intervention programs, that portion alone is not enough to pay for even wages and salaries.”
But in August 2021, some aggrieved public sector workers demonstrated to register their displeasure over what they describe as poor conditions of service against the 4% and 7% base pay increase proposed by the government for public sector workers for 2021 and 2022 respectively.
The group was demanding for public sector salaries to be increased by 25% instead.
Source: Mybrytnewsroom.com/Kofi Atakora
