Start Negotiations On Salary Increment - Organized Labour Told

President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Christian Addai-Poku has expressed dissatisfaction with the intermittent increase in the prices of goods and services, particularly petroleum products without any commensurate increase in the salaries of workers.

He therefore called on Organized Labour to summon an emergency stakeholders' meeting to begin negotiations on salary increment in the country in order 'to mitigate the suffering of workers.'

'We need to sit down and negotiate and then come out with something that will be appeasing enough for workers.'

Mr. Addai-Poku made the call in an interview with the media on the sidelines of the launch of the National Breast Cancer Screening.

The rate at which government is increasing prices of petroleum products and utilities without increasing workers salaries is unfair to the working class, according to him.

This, he said, was because ideally when prices of goods and services are increased, it is necessary to raise workers' salaries to commensurate with the increment in the prices of goods and services so that they (workers) can be able to cater for themselves and their families.

'I don't know why when they increase the prices of petroleum and other utilities, they forget to increase salaries to commensurate with the increases.'

Productivity Declines
He stressed that 'we must always remember that when these things happen, we shouldn't dream about increasing productivity because workers will always pretend to work when things happen like this.'

He told BUSINESS GUIDE that apart from salary increment, Organized Labour needs to take a look at the cost of living of Ghanaians beginning from the time the daily minimum wage was increased from GH¢6 to GH¢7.

It would be recalled that on January 1, 2015 government increased the minimum wage by 16.7 percent.

Prices of petroleum products were recently increased by 15 percent.

Earlier this year, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) announced a nine percent increase in the prices of fuel products which worsened the plight of Ghanaians.

By Melvin Tarlue
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