The President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Eric Angel Carbonu, has stated that the 10% salary increase for public sector workers falls short of expectations, as labour unions had initially demanded 25%.
However, he acknowledged that unions had to be measured in their demands, making a significant sacrifice given the current economic situation.
“It is a huge sacrifice labour is making this year, and it will influence negotiations next year. We were expecting a minimum of 25%, but with the state of the economy, even if the government gives us 60%, it cannot address our challenges because prices have gone up.
“But the government knows the consequences of giving us what we expected; they indicated that there will be an economic shutdown or we will have a second wind of the economic crisis we experienced a few months ago,” he said.
President John Mahama personally engaged union leaders on Thursday to secure their support for the 10% increment, despite their initial insistence on 25%.
This marks the second pay rise in less than a year, following a 23% increase in 2024 aimed at easing the burden on workers.
While some argue that the increment is excessive and could worsen inflation, Mr. Carbonu believes it is fair under the current circumstances.
Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen, he maintained that even if the government had agreed to a 60% increment, it still wouldn’t have been enough due to the rising cost of living.
He noted that President Mahama made unions understand the nation’s economic challenges, stressing that anything beyond 10% could have crippled the economy.
“It is not that the 10% is enough, but it is about the appeal the government made, the argument adduced by labour, the end game, and the effect on the economy.
“It is not usual and regular for the President to attend such meetings, but when he moves, then it means there is some economic crisis. He did not even participate in the negotiations but came to appeal; he was virtually begging that anything beyond 10% would collapse the economy. When we said it was an appeal, he insisted it was begging for us to know the issues are serious,” he stated.
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