The organised labour in Ghana has finally broken its long silence regarding living conditions in the country. Many groups in the country have been grumbling about the skyrocketing cost of living while the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) paid agents (those the think tank Imani Ghana calls 'mere useful idiots') keep on shouting from the ivory tower about micro statistics stability in the country. While for many average Ghanaians this claim does not translate positively into their daily lives, various segments of the organised labour had been struggling with government on their own without any support from the supra body. The Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC) is now asking government to step up efforts to reduce the spiraling cost of living in the country.
The Union said government is too focused on maintaining inflation in the single digits at the expense of making life more bearable for the average working Ghanaian. It noted that whiles the macroeconomic indicators might look promising; the end effect is not felt among the populace. In an interview with Joy News, acting Secretary General of the TUC, Dr. Yaw Baah, wondered why, for instance, it takes a worker who earns the minimum wage, four days to buy a delicacy like tilapia, stressing, “that is not good enough."
The National Tripartite Committee increased the minimum daily wage by 20 percent in February. What it meant was that workers shall not receive less than 3.73 cedis as daily minimum wage, but the new wage has not been implemented since February. The TUC is not enthused about the situation and is calling on the government to turn its attention to the plight of the people.
“We wanted to bring out the issue of the rising cost of living and the relationship with living standards because once politicians start using inflation and start saying it’s slow… there is the tendency for people to think that cost of living is falling. Cost of living is not falling. It is the rate of increase which is falling,” Dr. Yaw Baah said. Dr Baah added that government must, as a matter of urgency, implement the 20 percent across board pay increase agreed upon for 2011 before Christmas.
In my personal view, the TUC call though belated, still did not go far enough. The organised labour supra body should be concerned about inefficient, insufficient and ineffective power and water supplies, spiraling and inexplicable inconsistent utilities tariffs month after month, continuous depreciation of the cedi against major trading currencies and freeze on employment into Government outfits (World Bank conditionality that many Ghanaians consider death warrant for young people in Ghana). TUC as a major stakeholder in labour issues must be sensitive to matters affecting the welfare of all Ghanaians both working and a large army of unemployed youth. Ghanaians are very worried over the ramifications of the formation of the unemployed graduate association. Its consequences could be far reaching as this is a very volatile group that might be easily manipulated for economic, social and political reasons. History has many lessons to guide us. It is time the TUC demands leadership that is visionary and thinks out of the box to deal with the herculean problems confronting the country. Governing is a social contract between the electorates and the elected that requires sacrifice and not mere self-serving platform of the elected greedy bastards.
“We wanted to bring out the issue of the rising cost of living and the relationship with living standards because once politicians start using inflation and start saying it’s slow… there is the tendency for people to think that cost of living is falling. Cost of living is not falling. It is the rate of increase which is falling,” Dr. Yaw Baah said. Dr Baah added that government must, as a matter of urgency, implement the 20 percent across board pay increase agreed upon for 2011 before Christmas.
In my personal view, the TUC call though belated, still did not go far enough. The organised labour supra body should be concerned about inefficient, insufficient and ineffective power and water supplies, spiraling and inexplicable inconsistent utilities tariffs month after month, continuous depreciation of the cedi against major trading currencies and freeze on employment into Government outfits (World Bank conditionality that many Ghanaians consider death warrant for young people in Ghana). TUC as a major stakeholder in labour issues must be sensitive to matters affecting the welfare of all Ghanaians both working and a large army of unemployed youth. Ghanaians are very worried over the ramifications of the formation of the unemployed graduate association. Its consequences could be far reaching as this is a very volatile group that might be easily manipulated for economic, social and political reasons. History has many lessons to guide us. It is time the TUC demands leadership that is visionary and thinks out of the box to deal with the herculean problems confronting the country. Governing is a social contract between the electorates and the elected that requires sacrifice and not mere self-serving platform of the elected greedy bastards.
