Strike action cost Ghana GH¢1.47 billion in 2024 – Dr Graham

Twenty-two strike actions by labour unions in 2024 alone cost the country a total of GH¢1.47 billion, Dr George Smith Graham, the Chief Executive Officer of Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), has said.

Speaking during President John Mahama’s meeting with Organised Labour on Tuesday, he disclosed that Ghana lost another GHC635million as a result of eight strikes in 2025.

“This year [2026] we’ve had some strikes and they all come at a huge cost to us as a state,” he stated.

Dr Graham, therefore, pledged the organisation’s support for the Independent Emoluments Commission to be established by the Government, capable of managing public sector pay with professionalism, independence and credibility.

He said the FWSC would work in consultation with labour unions to ensure successful implementation of the new system to enhance workers satisfaction.

Highlighting challenges in public sector pay, Dr Graham agreed that the existing Single Spine Pay Structure (SSPS) needed an overhaul as salary disparities in the sector persisted.

“We have a system where people are doing similar work and paid differently, where allowances have overtaken salaries, and where every few months we are drawn into dispute because the system is fragmented, opaque and increasingly unsustainable…

“From the technical perspective, it is clear that the current architecture for managing public sector pay has reached its structural limit. What is required now is a structural reform of how remuneration is determined,” he stated, commending the government’s decision to introduce the Emoluments Commission.

“The Single Spine Pay policy was introduced to correct major distortions in the salary structures in the public service. This was achieved to a very large extent and we are supposed to continue improving on it until we get it right. Unfortunately, with the passage of time, we are almost back to square one,” he said.

The Chief Executive Officer acknowledged the role of Parliament in passing bills related to conditions of service, which had contributed to the salary disparities in the public sector.

He cited the role of labour unions in the “broken” salary structure as some decisions were taken outside the framework of the Single Spine Pay Policy, and called for a collaborative effort to rectify the situation through the Independent Emoluments Commission.

The meeting with Organised Labour followed agitations by Members of the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG) over issues with the salary structure and conditions of service for members.

The Union called off the strike on Tuesday, March 17, 2026.