15,000 public health workers earn average of GH¢600 monthly— HSWU

The Health Services Workers’ Union (HSWU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has raised concerns over low remuneration in Ghana’s health sector, revealing that about 15,000 workers in the public health sector earn an average monthly salary of GH¢600.

The union said the situation was particularly severe among some health workers employed as casual staff and paid from internally generated funds, with some reportedly earning GH¢500 or less per month.

General Secretary of the HSWU, Franklin Owusu Ansah, made the disclosure at a press conference in Accra last Monday as part of activities marking the union’s Union Week celebration.

“Some of them, in today's Ghana, are paid as low as GH¢500 or below per month.

“This is a very serious situation that we have engaged the government about to ensure that they mechanise all those casual staff to enable them to also enjoy decent wages,” he said.

Mr Owusu Ansah said the union was concerned that the low wages were undermining the welfare of affected workers and could also have serious consequences for their retirement.

Low Wages, Low Pensions
According to him, inadequate salaries directly affect the pensions workers receive after retirement because pension benefits are linked to their earnings.

“If you have a low salary, definitely your pension will be low.

“And this is what is accounting for the low pension that we have in Ghana,” he said.

The HSWU General Secretary further disclosed that low remuneration was not limited to public-sector health workers, saying some workers in the private health sector earned between GH¢500 and GH¢1,000 per month.

He therefore called for stronger collaboration among organised labour, civil society organisations and other stakeholders to push for the payment of living wages to health workers.

Appeal for Injured Health Worker
Mr Owusu Ansah also appealed to the government and other stakeholders to support a health worker who sustained serious injuries in an accident while performing his duties.

He said the affected worker, who is employed at the Eastern.