The twin month of June and July 2022 seems to be one unending hurdle for the government.
It has become critical as most public employees say the country’s financial downturn is making their burden heavier to bear.
Numerous labor disturbances have heightened to the point where discussions to salvage what remains of the country’s working force ended inconclusively with two meetings ending in a stalemate.
As a result, many of them, ranging from the educational to the health and aviation sectors, have threatened to lay down their tools. Others have already declared an indefinite strike in order to have their various demands met.
Below is a list of unions that have embarked on strike so far even as the government negotiates to get them back to work.
Teacher unions
On 4 July 2022, four teacher unions declared a nationwide strike over what they described as the government’s inability to meet the deadline for their demands for the payment of Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).
This follows the expiration of a June 30 deadline the unions gave the government.
The unions are the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) and Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT).
At a joint press conference, the education and teacher unions on the allowance expressed disappointment at the government’s failure to heed their calls.
One may recall, that the General Secretary of GNAT, Thomas Musah, disclosed that all their calls have fallen on deaf ears.
“We have been compelled under the current circumstances to publicly communicate to Ghanaians on our intention to go on strike having gone passed the June 30 deadline we gave the government for the payment of Cost of Living Allowance. Consequently, we have decided to embark on strike from today, Monday, July 4, 2022. By this, we are informing the general public that we are withdrawing services in all the pre-tertiary education institutions. This includes teaching and non-teaching staff. “
President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers, Angel Carbonu said, the decision to strike was because they have been pushed to the wall.
The teachers called for the payment of between 20% and 30% of their salaries as a Cost of Living Allowance.
The allowance according to the teachers is to cushion them on the back of current economic conditions and the worsening plight of teachers.
Senior Staff Association of the Universities of Ghana (SSAUoG)
On Wednesday, 13 July 2022, Senior staff of the country’s public universities declared a strike action.
At a news conference, members of the Senior Staff Association of the Universities of Ghana were asked by their leadership to “go home.”
In addition to COLA, the association is unhappy that accrued interest on Tier 2 pension arrears has not been paid.
The members are also worried about what they describe as university salary disparities.
Apart from these organizations that have embarked on a strike, many others have served notices of their intention to follow suit in the coming days.
Over 27,000 public sector workers are on the verge of striking. The officials belonging to the Public Services Workers Union (PSWU) are set to embark on industrial action on July 19, to demand their COLA.
The others include;
Ghana Medical Association (GMA)
Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives (GRNM)
Health Services Workers’ Union (HSWU)
Government and Hospital Pharmacists Association (GHOSPA)
Union of Professional Nurses and Midwives, Ghana (UPNMG)
Medical Laboratory Professional Workers’ Union (MELPWU)
But one will ask, should the underlying issue be centered on COLA alone? One school of thought has argued that although the call for COLA is legitimate, teachers and other labor unions should use the opportunity to fight for a permanent solution to the challenges facing them.
Ex-gratia concerns
Others are also of the opinion that the issue of payment of ex-gratia has incited unrest in the labor space. To them, an immediate review of Ghana’s end-of-service benefits regime as stated in Article 71 of the 1992 constitution is dire.
Article 71 of Ghana’s constitution states as follows:
- The salaries and allowances payable, and the facilities and privileges available, to-
a. The speaker and deputy speakers and members of parliament;
b. The chief justice and the justices of the superior court of Judicature;
c. The Auditor-General, the Chairman And Deputy Chairman Of the Electoral Commission,
d. The Commissioner For Human Rights And Administrative Justice And His Deputies And The District Assemblies Common Fund Administrator;
2. The salaries and allowances payable, and the facilities available, to the President, the Vice President, the chairman and the other members of the Council of State, Ministers of State and Deputy Ministers, being expenditure charged on the consolidated fund, shall be determined by Parliament on the recommendation of the committee referred to in clause (1) of this article.
3. For the purpose of this article and except as otherwise provided, constitution “salaries” includes allowances, facilities and privilege, and retiring benefit or awards.”
Many Ghanaians think as do a group calling itself, the New Ghana Social Justice Forum (NGSJF), which projects the lump sums paid as ex gratia to Article 71 office holders which include Parliamentarians and Ministers of state every four years as inconsequential.
In a press release, Mr. Yahya Alhassan, the group president, said it’s time to end the lump sums paid as ex gratia to Article 71 office holders in light of the current economic challenges.
“It’s an elite payment, backed and protected by the elite’s system making it difficult for the ordinary to question this compromised fraud, extortion, loot, and share by the leaders with exception of Togbe Afede XIV who deemed it inappropriate by returning his GH¢365,392.6 ex gratia to state coffers,” he stated.
He added that the GH¢365,392 ex gratia that was rejected by Togbe Afedo XIV when completely taken out from the laws of the country can save 5,000 street children.
The development relating to Togbe Afede XIV returning monies paid to him has sparked a lot of discussions on social media in the past weeks. Some described it as inconsiderate to the detriment of the Ghanaian worker whose meager salary is nothing to write home about.
This has led to many Ghanaians expressing displeasure about the payment.
A Senior Vice President of policy think tank, IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil has called for the review of Article 71 of the 1992 Constitution.
He believes that section of the constitution is a threat to Ghana’s democracy, hence must be re-framed immediately.
“Article 71 is obscene, and it is one of the threats to this democracy, and everybody agrees that it is wrong. I think there is a solution to it and that is all those Article 71 [office holders] can get multiple times the minimum wage. So if the minimum wage is GHS1, we can give them 10,000 times of that. In that way, it will adjust itself automatically as the minimum wage adjusts itself.”
He made the recommendation on Newsfile on Joy FM on the back of uproar over the payment of emolument to spouses of the President and the Vice President following a recommendation by a committee tasked to propose gratuities for Article 71 office holders.
This payments are assumed to have incited public worker unions in what is perceived as impoverishing the common worker in Ghana. It is believed that most public workers do not even get a tenth(10%) of the GH¢365,392.6(of which Parliamentarians and Ministers are believed to get around GH¢400,000) of the quoted figure after retirement comparing it to a 4-year service by Parliamentarians and Ministers.
It is perceived that public workers are peeved and worried about this development that came to light and has insisted that COLA and other incentives due them be paid.
It is purported that ex-gratia payments have rendered discussions with teachers and labor unions to return to work inconclusive and unfruitful.
But one will ask, is COLA, the only allowance the labor unions desire?
Other stakeholders have advised teachers and other labor unions to use the opportunity to fight for a permanent solution to the challenges facing them and not only demand COLA.
They are of the view that low salaries and lack of motivation among other challenges should be brought forth for deliberations as well.
Another issue that incited Labor unrest is Ghana’s inflation which has soared again to hit 29.8 percent for the month of June 2022, which is the highest recorded since December 2003.
This represents a three percentage points increase in the inflation rate compared to the 27.6 percent recorded in May 2022 which Labor unions say it’s the cause of the high cost of living and poverty towering its members.
According to the figures, food inflation surged to 30.7% in June 2022, from 30.1% recorded in May 2022.
Non-food inflation also went up by 3.4% to 29.1% in June 2022.
Similarly, month-on-month inflation between May 2022 and June 2022 was 3.0%.
This was captured in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) on Wednesday, 13 July 2022.
Whilst inflation for locally produced items was 29.2%, that of imported items was 31.3%.
The government statistician also noted that the Eastern Region recorded the highest rate of inflation among the regional differentials whereas the Upper East recorded the lowest.
The increasing inflation and rising cost of living prompted protests from some opposition groups such as the Arise Ghana, and the #Fix the country movement.
However, the government on the other hand is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to support the economy.
Conclusion
The demand by the labor unions seems legitimate because it has been lingering for a while. The back and forth with previous governments have not yielded any result as the unions’ desired, therefore the insistence and perseverance to drive home their demand this time around.
But one will ask, is it the best moment of time to press for these demands as the government is grappling with the balance of payment deficit which it has instigated to seeking for IMF bail-out.
I think when the unions put heads together to demand these allowance, this thought also crossed their minds as well, but the adage that says ” you strike when the iron is hot” vindicated their decision to push on for it.
The assumption is that, there is no better time to push for these demands when the government has come under a lot of pressure to fulfill the demands of workers on all fronts.
Their perseverance has paid off as the government met their demands for COLA on Thursday, July 14, 2022.
Government and organised labour agreed on a 15 percent cost of living allowance for members of organised labour.
The various worker unions, including the four teacher unions, the Ghana Medical Association, and the Public Sector Workers Union, among others, demanded the payment of 20 percent of their basic salaries as Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) due to the current economic situation in the country.
The topic of ex-gratia payments to politicians over 4 years of service is preposterous and the call to look at it again as the is in the right direction.
The Akuffo-Addo led government which is densely populated in Ministerial positions, state office holders with a number of deputies in addition to the 275 MPs in Parliament is a cause for worry.
The obvious question that begs to ask is, are they all paid ex-gratia after the 4- year term of service?
Calls to cut down on the number of ministers have gained ground with the Majority leader in Parliament, Osei-Kyei Mensah Bonsu championing the cause.
Ghanaians have had the need to call out inactive and non-performing MPs and ministers whose work makes little or no impact on them.
Cutting down the number of ministerial appointments ties in with people calling out non-performing MPs and ministers, in the long run reducing the amount paid as ex-gratia.
More significantly, remunerations, salaries and allowances in the public workers space should be revised to accommodate the changing trends in cost of living, alleviation of poverty and meagre end of service benefits(SSNIT).