The Minority in Parliament has expresed dissatisfaction with the recently announced 10% salary increase for public sector workers, describing it as insufficient to address the challenges posed by rising living costs.
The salary adjustment, intended to help workers cope with economic pressures, was announced following negotiations between the Labour Union and President John Dramani Mahama on Thursday, February 20, 2024.
President Mahama personally engaged with union leaders to secure their support for the pay rise, which was finalised after extensive discussions.
However, the Minority has argued that the 10% increase falls short of what is needed to meaningfully alleviate the financial strain on public sector employees.
The leader of the minority side, Alexander Afenyo-Markin argued that: “In 2017, public sector workers enjoyed a 12.5% increase in pay. In 2018, they enjoyed 11%, in 2020 there was a 15% increase, and in 2021 there was a 4% plus interim premium of 15%. In 2022, there was a 15% Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) on the base salary.
In 2023 there was a 30% increase and in 2024, there was a 23% between January and June and between July and December, there was a 25%. We are just ahead of an increment of 10%. The leader of government business must take note of this and inform the president that these are the numbers he came to meet.
“The ordinary Ghanaian worker has a higher expectation in this 133-24-hour economy. They have a legitimate expectation that President Mahama will do better. The 10% is unacceptable,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the majority side of the house led by its leader, Mahama Ayariga, described the labour union’s acceptance of the 10% salary increase as a strong endorsement of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.
Speaking on the floor of parliament, Ayariga stated that the agreement reflects the trust workers have in the administration’s economic policies and commitment to improving livelihoods.
“The workers of this country, led by their leaders gladly accepted the 10% increase. Accepting a 10% increment as against 25% is a vote of confidence in the leader because they have confidence that President John Mahama when he collects the tax, will not be flying and bathing in the air,” he stated.
While the majority and minority expressed differing views about the 10% increment, labour consultant Austin Gamey described the government’s recent approval of a 10% wage increase for public sector workers as excessive, warning that it could exacerbate inflationary pressures.
He argued that wage increments should ideally be tied to productivity, a practice he says Ghana has yet to fully adopt.
“The issue is base-pay, normally it should be based on productivity but we are yet to get there as a nation. We are so far not practicing the performance management system here in Ghana fully.
“The private sector responds well but the public sector doesn’t respond well. So, for fairness, the 10% is about the best for now. I would have preferred something else,” he stated.
He further emphasised that even a 1% adjustment in public sector wages could push the economy into a higher inflationary bracket, ultimately affecting everyone, including the beneficiaries of the wage increase.
“I would have preferred it lower. Because even a 1% adjustment on the public sector wage takes us to another inflationary bracket and that comes back to bite all of us including them,” he stated.
