MPs research assistants protest; not received salaries for 11 months

Research Assistants to Members of Parliament have served notice they will protest next week because they have not been paid for almost a year.

The intended action would be at the forecourt of Parliament, the precinct of Parliament and the environs of Parliament, the Research Assistants said in a letter addressed to the Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Aaron Oquaye on Friday, June 14, 2019.

The demonstration will take place on Thursday, June 20, 2019 “to vent our vexation and frustration”.

The notice has been copied to the Clerk-to-Parliament, the Majority Leader, the Minority Leader, Majority Chief Whip, Minority Chief Whip, Members of Parliament Finance and Accounts Department and “all relevant parties”.

“Very respectfully, this action has become necessary because we have exploited every diplomatic avenue at our disposal to get our monthly salaries but all attempts have proven futile.

“Many of us have not been paid salaries very close to one-year (eleven (11) months) now and this situation is rather worrying and appalling considering the fact that many of us are really working hard to assist our Honourable Members deliver on their mandate as Members of Parliament so as to improve parliamentary democracy.”

They further stated, “we are not entitled to any allowances, emoluments or any other fringe benefits as Research Assistants. We are only entitled to our monthly salaries and we have to convey ourselves to work without any transport allowance as compared to other staffs working in Parliament.

“We only rely on our salaries for all our basic needs and this very issue of non-payment of Research Assistants salaries is really crippling us.”

The Research Assistants, each nominated by a Member of Parliament, were engaged on July 3, 2018.