for many decades, the issue of the determination of decent and dignified remuneration for the labour of working people has dogged the relationship between organised labour and employers, principally with the government as the single largest employer.
The effort at balancing the competing and often conflicting interests of working people against those of employers in settling on a minimum wage and other conditions of service has, on many occasions, hit a stalemate.
Such a situation subsequently degenerates into the adoption of strikes and other confrontational tactics by workers against employers, thereby poisoning the industrial atmosphere.
Fortunately for our country, industrial relations within the last few years have shifted from being confrontational to negotiations and positive engagement.
This has opened the floodgates to the trading of ideas and positions in order to reach mutually agreeable positions, resulting in a win-win situation for both labour and employers, including the government.
We are happy that as part of this culture of positive engagement, the government has, over the past many months, been holding discussions with representatives of organised labour and other bodies with a view to putting a seal on the agreement to implement the Single Spine Salary Structure (ssss) by July this year.
It is not in dispute that one of the main objectives of that decision is to help end the existence of distortions in wages and salaries, especially in the public service, for workers doing the same work under similar conditions or circumstances in different sectors of the public sector.
The distortions, among others, have largely undermined the principle of equal pay for work of equal value.
This, in the contention of many, has been a disincentive to hard work and increased productivity, both factors crucial for accelerated national socio-economic development.
It is heart-warming to note that the remaining vestiges of active opposition to the SSSS are giving way, paving the way for the full implementation of the scheme by July.
The call by the General Secretary of the Public Service Workers Union (PSWU), Mr Richard Ampaabeng, on public servants to remain committed in their support for the SSSS to help ensure its smooth implementation in July is a step in the right direction.
According to him, the SSSS, in the current circumstances, held the best prospects for working people and that whatever outstanding problems remained were clearly surmountable so that the way for improved earning for workers could be cleared (see page three).
We wish to take his opportunity to urge all stakeholders in this important exercise to give it all the support it needs to tie up the remaining loose ends so that the July date for the commencement of the scheme will be a reality.
Schemes, being the construct of humans, are not infallible. Indeed, as schemes roll on and problems emerge, solutions are found to them. In this way, we refine them and enhance their efficacy.
Let’s not delay the SSSS further.
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