THE Trades Union Congress (TUC) has cautioned the government not to allow its policies to be driven by international bodies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
It suggested to the government to rather pursue policies with the specific character of the nation’s development problems as a way of moving the economy forward.
Mr Kofi Asamoah, Deputy General Secretary of TUC, who said this on the last day of the 53rd New Year School in Accra, was speaking on the topic “realistic wage policy and good governance”.
The school was organised by the Institute of Adult Education of the University of Ghana, Legon, to discuss pertinent national issues and suggest ways of addressing them.
Mr Asamoah said “development and not macro-economic stabilisation ought to be the main reference point for policies.”
He said the move may require that government develop a mix blend of policies that do not conform to the traditional neo-liberal policies that Ghana has been pursuing over the last two decades and which have led the country into the status of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative.
Mr Asamoah said it is the view of the TUC that resolving the problem of low salaries and wages will make an important contribution to the achievement of equity and social well- being in the country.
“Ghanaian workers have borne the brunt of the negative effects of the Structural Adjustment Programme for the last 15 to 18 years through diminishing incomes in real terms and it is now time to go beyond and put the issue of paying living wages to workers firmly on the national agenda,” he said.
Mr Asamoah reiterated the need for the government to initiate an incomes policy that aims at achieving a realistic level of income for individuals and households and guarantees a decent living for workers and their families.
“This would demand that in addition to the expressed concern in the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy for output-based salaries and wages system for the private sector, due recognition is given to cost of living and inflation as essential factors in the determination of salaries and wages,” he added.
Mr Asamoah said the TUC will also be looking at the overall income relations between the highest and the lowest paid persons, particularly in the public sector.
The Executive Director of the Ghana Employers Association (GEA), Mrs Rose Karikari Anang, who spoke on the same topic, said good governance is a pre-requisite to a realistic wage policy.
She said it is, therefore, necessary that steps are taken to address the main factors responsible for the low remuneration in the country.
Mr Smart Chigabatia, Executive Secretary of the Civil Servants Association of Ghana, said the commitment to good governance also obliges government to take due cognisance of the legal and constitutional basis of workers’ economic rights, which have the principle of equity as the central theme.
