THE MINORITY Leader in Parliament, Hon. Alban Bagbin, has stated that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government has created the room for rampant corruption in the country, in offering ?9,200 as the minimum daily wage for workers.
According to him, that kind of money will not help to cushion workers, but will rather push them to find crooked means by which they can get enough money to enable them to take care of their families.
The minority leader said these in an interview with the paper last weekend. "No wonder the President has stopped mentioning it in his speeches nowadays," he noted.
He contended that "labour has been considerate in this matter by descending from its proposed stand of ?12,000 as minimum wage to its present angle of ?10,000, adding "government must have humbly accept it."
Bagbin expressed surprise at the government's attitude towards the process of arriving at the minimum wage which, he said, will only worsen the economic plight of Ghanaians.
In its manifesto section 4.15.3 at page 44, Bagbin noted, it promised that "our policies and performances for moving Ghana forward will confer immense benefits on workers."
According to him, The NPP manifesto further stated that "we shall help strengthen the bargaining capabilities of the movement and provide an effective machinery and environment for free and fair bargaining and negotiation on all work related matters between workers and employers so as to create a new era of industrial peace and ensure that the various units of production are fairly rewarded."
The legal egghead fired, "NPP has failed Ghanaians because if you look at what they are doing now, it is not conducive for the promotion of a peaceful industrial atmosphere as estimated in their 2000 manifesto."
He wondered why the NPP government has failed to recognise the important role of labour, which is the kingpin among all the factors of production for high productivity and revenue generation.
The minority leader emphasized that the best any government can do is to prioritise labour and when that is done, all the other factors will work well, adding "But if we fail to achieve that then it will be like government pretending to be paying workers and workers pretending to be working."
He pointed out that the vote so fixed is abysmally low and feared that it will discourage workers to give of their best.
Bagbin predicted that there hard times lay ahead, saying if workers acquiesce to the present minimum wage, the depreciation of the cedi in the next few months will erode whatever gains might have been earned with the looming increases in utility tariffs and VAT.
He indicated that the finance minister, Mr. Osafo Maafo, lied to Ghanaians when he said at his press conference that this was the first time workers in the country were going to be paid above one dollar.
He revealed that during the Limann administration, workers had always received above four dollars and even during the NDC era, particulary in 1995 and 1996 and most recently in 1999, the minimum wage was at par with the dollar.
Bagbin also described as false arguments by the government that its wage bill was up to 70 per cent of the total revenue of the state, saying the 70 per cent is rather the total cost of administration, services and remuneration with the rest of the 30 per cent going into investments.
According to him, it is not a question of whether the minimum wage is above one dollar or not, but care must be taken to ensure that the minimum wage so received will be able to make it a little better for the Ghanaian worker.
