Translate macroeconomic gains into improved living conditions – TUC to gov’t

The Trades Union Congress Ghana (TUC) has urged government to use the impending mid-year budget review to announce policies that would effectively translate the gains in macroeconomic management into real and visible improvements in the living conditions of Ghanaians.

In a statement after its annual General Council Meeting, the TUC said the apparent good sets of macroeconomic statistics were not adequately and visibly reflecting in the lives of the majority of Ghanaians.

The TUC said whilst the economy was growing, real wages were declining and highlighted the need for an upward adjustment of wages in the budget review.

“No economy can grow on a sustainable basis if real purchasing power kept declining,” it said in the statement.

“In the public sector, for example, as part of the austerity measures introduced by the IMF-sponsored Extended Credit Facility Programme, salary increases have lagged behind inflation thereby reversing the gains in real incomes of public sector workers especially those placed on the Single Spine Salary Structure,” the statement added.

It said public sector workers were expectant that the impending salary negotiations for 2020 would reverse this negative trend.

“The people of Ghana are expecting that the improvements in macroeconomic management, as shown by the macroeconomic indicators, would reflect visibly in their pockets and in their lives,” it said.

The Council’s meeting deliberated on the TUC Mid-Year Report, which is a significant part; devoted to the political, social, and economic situation in the country.

It also discussed developments at the labour front as well as the outcome of the 108th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC) which took place from 10th to 21st June in Geneva, Switzerland.