The Public Services Workers Union (PSWU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has declared its intention to start an industrial action on Tuesday, July 19, 2022. (COLA), because the government has not paid them their cost-of-living allowance.
It claimed that the high rate of inflation had made frequent price increases necessary and had a negative impact on public sector workers’ quality of life.
The Union claimed that the situation prompted organized labor to petition the President of Ghana to approve the payment of COLA to cushion employees during the 2022 May Day Parade, followed by a formal request on June 24,2022, but it received no response. The statement was signed by the Union’s General Secretary, Mr. Bernard Adjei, and sent with a copy to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.
According to the press statement, PSWU and other unions decided to accept a 4% pay increase for 2021 and a 7% pay increase for 2022, respectively.
“However, we are concerned that the sacrifices made by organized labor during the past discussions have been taken for granted given the unfolding events, such as relatively significant compensation increases for “Article 77″ and related office holders and Government expenditure habits.”
It said that because the government refused to give a mandate for the negotiation of institution-specific terms of service for various organizations under the Single Spine, the situation had gotten worse.
In the statement, it was stated that over 27,000 employees in PSWU’s 65 public sector institutions were feeling the pressure of the economy and that: “It is an obvious situation that a potential return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) further complicated the economic uncertainties faced by public sector employees and brings back memories of harsh labor policies that disadvantaged the workers.”
“It is clear that a potential return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would exacerbate the financial uncertainty that public sector employees now confront and bring back memories of oppressive labor laws that hurt the average worker.”
According to the statement, entering an IMF program, for instance, ran the possibility of bringing about a harsh industrial environment filled with requirements including the sale of crucial and productive national assets, layoffs, a freeze on hiring, and wage freezes.
It added that the mismatch in their lump sum benefits relative to those who had resigned under PNDCL 247 had not been remedied for many workers who had retired under the National Pensions (Amendment) Act, 2014 (Act 883), which went into effect in full on January 1, 2020.
According to the statement, despite the President’s explicit promises to address the situation as far back as October 13th, 2020, this has led to increased financial difficulties for the elderly, who are among society’s most vulnerable individuals.
In an emergency meeting with the management committee and representatives from the more than 65 institutions that make up the PSWU, it was decided, according to the statement, that members would engage in industrial action until the issues were resolved.