Western Region workers express disappointment

Workers in the Western Region have expressed their disappointment over failure by the government and Tripartite Committee to reach understanding on a new public sector base pay and minimum wage.

They told the GNA in Takoradi during the May Day celebration on Thursday that they were hopeful of receiving positive news on base pay adjustment and minimum wage.

However, they said, their dreams were crushed when the President announced that the government and the Tripartite Committee were unable to conclude negotiation on a new minimum wage and reach agreement on a new public sector base pay.

Mr. Frederick Barnes, a worker with the Ghana Education Service, appealed to the government, organized labour and employers to speed-up the negotiation in view of the rising cost of living in the country.

“The government and the Tripartite Committee must consider the plight of workers and conclude negotiations quickly on new public sector base pay and minimum wage because we are really suffering from the current economic hardships in the country”, he said.

He said with the increase in prices of petroleum products, electricity and water tariffs, goods and services, rent accommodation coupled with depreciation of the cedi, rising inflation and bank interest rates, there must be corresponding increment in workers’ salaries in order to meet the increasing cost of living.

The Western Regional Minister, Mr. Paul Evans Aidoo, read the president’s speech and urged workers to work hard to increase productivity. The regional celebration was well attended by various labour unions with some holding placards with inscriptions including ”President, deal with corrupt elements ruthlessly”, ”Energy is the wheel of development, let us support”, ”Where is our oil money”, ”You’ re obliged to pay tax for national development.”