Deputy Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Dr Kwabena Nyarko Otoo, has attributed Ghana’s low salaries and wages to labour practices introduced during the colonial era.
Speaking in an interview on Tuesday, August 25, Dr Otoo said historical accounts suggested that Ghanaian workers who received comparatively high wages were able to meet their financial targets, save money and leave their jobs within about six months.
According to him, the practice created labour shortages despite the availability of jobs, prompting colonial employers to reduce wages to retain workers for longer periods.
“The low salary has a historical antecedent, when wage and work were introduced in Ghana. According to the British, the Ghanaian worker has a target mentality: if you pay them well and they hit their target within six months, they stop the work. So, higher pay, according to them, reduced labour supply.
So the pay they could give you in six months, they extended it to one year, and that is the genesis, and we have not been able to overcome it,” he disclosed.
Dr Otoo said the colonial wage policy compelled employees to remain at work for longer as they struggled to achieve their financial goals, helping employers maintain a stable workforce.
He argued that although colonial rule had ended, the low-wage structure it created had remained embedded in Ghana’s labour market, contributing to the persistently low earnings of many workers.
Dr Otoo was on the show to discuss the cost of living in the country.
