Labour alone can’t guzzle all our resources – Mahama

President John Mahama says inasmuch as he has an obligation towards ensuring the welfare of Labour, a careful balancing act is needed in doing so without depriving the rest of the country needed resources for development.

Mr. Mahama told Labour on May Day that: "As a social democrat, I have the utmost respect for the right of our gallant workers to negotiate a living wage. But as President, I have an obligation too, to the rest of our population to ensure that the economy of this country is protected".

He said: “I have an obligation to ensure that there are enough resources left over, to enable that the other 24.4 million Ghanaians who are not public sector workers have access to quality healthcare, education, clean drinking water, adequate sanitation, power, and the numerous other commitments the state is obliged to provide, especially if we are to continue making positive changes in the social indicators that reflect our progress and development."

Since the inception of the single spine salary structure, the about 650,000 civil and public sector workers of the country are paid with over 70 percent of tax revenue.

The wage bill constituted 2.7 percent of GDP of the 12.0 percent deficit. It translated into 1.91 billion Ghana cedis.

Labour recently threatened mass industrial action against the Government if any attempts were made to freeze wage increases for 2014. The tripartite Committee is currently negotiating new wages for Labour.