After several attempts to reach an agreement over an increment in their base pay, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) is expected to meet government on Wednesday to finalise a deal.
But before that meeting gets underway, the Trades Union Congress is warning that it will not accept government’s projections in the 2023 Budget.
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, reading the 2023 Budget in Parliament projected compensation of employees at GH¢44,990 million (5.6% of GDP).
Earlier, government also proposed a 12% salary increment during the last negotiation with Organised Labour but it was turned down.
Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express on Tuesday, Deputy General Secretary of TUC, Joshua Ansah stated that they would not agree to the projected figure.
According to Mr Ansah, government must expect a fight if they turn up at the meeting with the same proposal.
“There is no way Organised Labour is also going to accept what has been put in the budget. Well, if the government has made up its mind that it is the way it thinks that he can actually force down the throat of workers, then we are in for a big fight because there is no way government can pay anything below what we are expecting,” he said.
He noted that Organised Labour will not compromise on their demand for 60% increment in their base pay.
Meanwhile, the President of the Ghana Medical Association, Dr Justice Yankson says government has created a problem by not reaching an agreement with the labour unions earlier.
He believes the current mess could have been prevented.
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“These are some of the problems that sometimes we create for ourselves. We had a whole period in which we could have sorted these things, we waited to the last end. Now we can see that we are on a collision course, it is clear,” he said.