The government has now resolved to pay a 15% Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) to all public sector workers, which effect retrospectively on July 1, 2022, This decision comes off after several discordances between the government and the striking labour unions.
According to earlier JoyNews sources, the government’s side’s sporadic caucus sessions on proposed percentages were the reason for the delay in reaching a consensus.
With this arrangement, all upcoming industrial activities have been immediately put on hold.
“A 15 % base pay rate will be used to calculate the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA). Ignatius Baffuor Awuah, Minister of Employment and Labor Relations, announced at a news conference on Thursday. He stated that the COLA payment’s effective date is July 1, 2022.
Since the COLA demand began, there have been three meetings between the government and labour unions.
Albert Kan-Dapaah, the Minister of National Security, Dr. Yaw Adutwum, Ignatius Baffler Awuah, the Minister of Education, and Ken Ofori Attah, the Minister of Finance, along with his deputy Abena Osei Asare, made up the delegation from the government.
Due to some labour unions’ refusal to end their strike before negotiations can begin, a meeting between the two parties was postponed on Tuesday. We’ve had to adjourn the meeting since both the government and labour believe we cannot accomplish this while one of them is on strike. It has been decided that we will separate to have private conversations.
They end the strike, and we convene once more,” Bright Wereko-Brobbey, deputy minister of employment and labour relations, told Joy News.
Opinion
It is the hope that the government will deliver on its promise to pay the 15% COLA to the labour unions. This is less than their initial demand of 20% but it is way better than none. It will help cushion the public sector workers amidst the economic hardship in the country until salaries are increased if they ever will.
Hopefully, teachers will return to the classroom and teaching and learning will begin soon. Students and parents who have been worried about the upcoming BECE, with a pending strike will now be at ease.
Frankly, if the government responded to the UTAG strike with such ‘speed’, the university academic calendar wouldn’t have been in the shape that it is now, with students being overloaded whiles their vacations are also shortened. Regardless, the government’s resolve is a good thing and hopefully, the government is not trying to throw dust in the eyes of the striking labour unions.