The goal of organized labor is to increase worker earnings in order to expand pension funds.
The labor front agreed at a pre-May Day meeting yesterday in Accra that higher pay and salaries will raise the standard of pensions, support employee efforts, and boost performance.
More than 500 people from the nation's major trade unions attended the event, which had as its topic "Protecting incomes and pensions in an era of economic crisis: Our responsibility."
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Dr. Yaw Baah, the Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), said that the forum was a forerunner to the yearly May Day festivities when workers discussed crucial problems affecting their welfare.
"We do this every year in order to talk on the celebration's theme before the big day.
We are discussing pensions and our need to preserve salaries now," he remarked.
The Upper East Regional capital, Bolgatanga, will host this year's May Day celebration.
Inter-country debt exchange
According to the agreement the labor front struck with the government last year, Dr. Baah said, the labor front has decided not to permit pension funds to participate in the domestic debt swap scheme.
He said that a letter asking the Board of Trustees of Pension Funds to take part in a fresh alternative offer the government had put up for pension funds had come to the attention of the labor front's leadership.
"We have carefully examined this letter and the supporting documents and are confident that what they amount to is the re-inclusion of pension funds into the domestic debt exchange program," Dr. Baah continued.
He said that as a result, organized labor had come to an accord, pushing all pension fund boards to decline the invitation to attend the alternative offer meeting.
According to Dr. Baah, "this request violates both the letter and the spirit of the MoU that was signed between the government and organized labor."
He said that any move by the administration to jeopardize the pension fund arrangement made last year will be met with resistance by the labor front.
low salaries
Public service salaries, according to Dr. Kwabena Nyarko Otoo, director of the TUC's Labour Research and Policy Institute, have not only remained low but have significantly fallen over time.
For instance, he stated that in 2023, the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS)'s basic salary was set at GH 397.89 per month, which was less than the GH 401.76 required minimum wage.
The base salary has actually decreased over the past 12 years since the single-spine pay policy has been in place, according to Dr. Otoo.
He said that the top public employees in the nation were paid less than $1,000 per month, with the highest monthly salary listed on the SSSS at Gh 9,625.51.
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