By Laudia Sawer
Tema, June 02, GNA – The Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC) has reiterated that paying living wages to workers in Ghana is achievable if a tripartite committee agrees on it.
Dr Kwabena Nyarko Otoo, the Deputy Secretary General of the TUC, speaking at a Tripartite Roundtable Discussion on Productivity, Jobs and Growth in Ghana based on the Ghana Statistical Service’s (GSS) National Productivity Statistics Report, said a living wage is achievable.
The roundtable discussion was organised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) under the Productivity Ecosystems for Decent Work (PE4DW) project in collaboration with the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation.
Dr Otoo said living wages should be a reality, explaining that Ghana’s minimum wage of GHS19 only focuses on the worker and not on his or her dependents.
“Minimum wage is currently 19 cedis, which is less than 20 cedis, and it focuses on an individual worker and his or her needs, but every worker has a family. If we assume it is enough for him, what happens to his family and spouse?” he questioned.
He added that having a living wage is actually focusing on the worker and the family needs, indicating that the calculation of the living wage could be relatively higher than that of the minimum wage.
“We are not calling for it to be implemented tomorrow. If we agree at the tripartite level, what we can do is to have a programme, say, within the next five years, moving to a full-scale living wage. In year one, we do A, and in year two, we do B as we prepare ourselves for its full implementation,” he added.
He said there was a high level of inequity in the pay structure in Ghana, lamenting how the pay of politicians had gone up higher than 80 per cent within four years, while public sector workers might have seen about or less than 50 per cent within the same period.
Mr. Kingsley Laar, an Economist and Senior Researcher at the Ghana Employers’ Association, acknowledged the relevance of fair workers’ compensation, as it is seen as a driver for productivity.
Mr. Laar, however, stated that a lack of data makes it difficult to determine fair wages, further saying that there is a dilemma about what percentage of profit should be accrued to labour and capital, as capital investment is on the rise.
GNA
Edited by Benjamin Mensah