Single Spine Salary and labor agitations

By (Wilhelm Gaitu)

Ho, March 22, GNA - The labour front promises

to be stormy with agitations as the Single Spine Salary

(SSS) scheme makes its transition from paper into the

pockets of public sector workers. In the circumstances, concerns of smaller institutions

such as the Ghana News Agency, with a little more than 200

workers mostly journalists, risk being brushed aside as

flashes in the pan. However, bigger and vociferous professional groups

such as teachers, doctors, nurses, civil servants and

university teachers as usual would be treated as 93sacred

cows" because they have the 93macho" muscles to hit hard

at the government and serve the media a juicy menu. But such preferential focus puts the survival and the very

essence of the SSS, equity and fairness to all, at risk. Already perception among other public sector workers is

that the government has singled out personnel of the

Security Services for 93royal treatment" under the SSS thus

setting the tempo for the emerging levels of

uncompromising agitations. Indications are that teachers would also be given their

"pound of flesh" having bared their teeth at the government

in anger at being shortchanged over the SSS. The question agitating the minds of those public sector

workers who have already been put on the SSS minus

arrears and category two and three allowances is whether

the government would fast track the payment of arrears to

the teachers as well as their category two and three

allowances in order to enhance their pay packets to appease

them? That would be discriminatory towards the others who are

being taken through snail-pace negotiations. Waiting in the wings are the Ghana Medical Association,

the Civil and Local Government Service Staff Association

of Ghana who have also served notice that their members

would not settle for anything short of a meaty portion of the

SSS pie and the University Teachers Association of Ghana

who appeared to have kept a tactical silence over the

happenings. The coming weeks and months would therefore be

crucial for the government in its ability to manage the

agitations in order not to undermine the very tenets of the

SSS to appease some sections of the public sector

workforce. =09 But should the government pander to the demands of the

bigger sections of the public sector and forget about the

smaller groups then those smaller groups (mosquitoes and

bed bugs) would be justified to also make their 93little

noises" in order to draw the government's attention to their

frail, though important existence. Should that happen, then the government would be back

-tracking towards the pre-SSS era as it negotiates with

labour groups on their individual terms outside the joint

negotiation arrangement.