LABOUR FRONT NEEDS PEACE (OCT 16, 2010)

THE labour front appears to be boiling these days as workers from various institutions are walking away from their jobs in protest against poor conditions of service.
Not too long ago, prison officers in some parts of the country surprised everyone when they embarked on a demonstration to register their dissatisfaction with the implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS).
Before the nation could recover from the shock of their action, the Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTOG) and the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) abandoned the lecture theatres to demand better conditions of service.
We have had cause to draw attention to the fact that the implementation of the SSSS would not be without some hiccups because the number of workers on government payroll is quite monumental and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) will require some time to deal with the issues.
We are aware of efforts by the government to deal with the conditions of service of all public sector workers through the SSSS, but listening to the concerns of teachers in our tertiary institutions, it appears that the authorities were a bit slow in reacting to their demands.
So long as our needs are insatiable, working people will continue to demand better wages and salaries in order to maintain themselves and their families. However, the bottom line is whether government resources will be able to meet the demands of public sector workers.
The tendency for working people to demand their “pound of flesh”, no matter the state of the economy, is also not good enough because nation-building is a partnership between the government and the governed.
In circumstances like this, it is common for working people to point to certain government expenditures, but they forget that the salaries of workers form part of the recurrent expenditure of the government and that requires that money is available throughout the year to take care of wages.
Successive governments have called for a national debate on a national minimum wage for the country but this has not been successful so far. The SSSS was, therefore, conceived as a way of addressing the disparities and distortions in salary administration in the country, but recent agitation for improved salaries gives the impression that some working people do not think the SSSS holds the key to addressing their concerns.
We recall that on World Teachers’ Day on October 5, 2010, the Vice-President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, said although teachers had bargaining power to demand higher salaries, they should be mindful of budgetary constraints and limitations on the government.
The DAILY GRAPHIC is concerned about the plight of working people in this country and, therefore, calls on the government to step up efforts at bettering the lot of all working people.
All workers, especially members of UTAG and POTAG who have left their lecture theatres, should rescind their decision following the intervention of President J.E.A. Mills.
The DAILY GRAPHIC also appeals to all the parties involved in the current impasse over improved conditions of service to remain committed to the negotiating table and stay there until a solution is found. The parties must also bear in mind that the moment they decide to negotiate, they must be prepared for compromises so that the outcome will be to the mutual benefit of both parties.
The current turmoil on the labour front will not be to the advantage of any of the parties and, indeed, Ghanaians as a whole and we plead with all of them to let good judgement prevail for the sake of our children who are in the universities and the polytechnics, as well as Mother Ghana.