The Chairman of the Senior Staff Association of the University of Ghana, Haruna Rafiq Mohammed, has launched a scathing attack on the leadership of organised labour, describing the recent wage negotiations that resulted in a 9% base pay increase for public sector workers as “a scam” and “a betrayal of the Ghanaian worker.”
Speaking on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Monday (10 November), Mohammed said the process that led to the announcement of the 9% increment was marked by “bad leadership, lack of consultation,” and “self-imposed leaders who have lost touch with ordinary workers.”
“Organised labour went into the negotiations without proper consultation with all its constituent unions,” he said. “We expected them to start with nothing less than 50%, not 20%. This outcome is the result of bad leadership, and we strongly condemn it. The whole system is a scam.”
‘We Deserve Better’
Mohammed argued that given the current cost of living, a 20% increase would have been more realistic and fair. He cited sharp rises in utility tariffs and taxes as factors that have “eroded the real income of Ghanaian workers.”
“Electricity tariffs have gone up by about 21% this year. There’s a 2% growth and sustainability levy, an 8% levy on petroleum, and even a one-cedi-per-litre tax on fuel,”* he explained. “If government keeps raising these while giving workers just 9%, it means our income is shrinking.”
He dismissed government’s justification that Ghana’s programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) limited fiscal space for higher pay.
“We were under IMF when we got 25% and even 30%. So that cannot be an excuse,”* he said. “The Ghanaian worker sacrifices a lot and deserves something better than what we have now.”
Tensions Within Labour Front
The Senior Staff Chair accused the leadership of organized labour of excluding several unions from the negotiation table and making decisions without consensus.
“Only a few leaders were called into a caucus with government, and within minutes they came out announcing a deal,”* he alleged. “The media were blacked out until concerned unions started raising red flags. Without us, they would have accepted 5%.”
Despite threats of a demonstration over the 9% agreement, Mohammed said his group had suspended planned protests “in the interest of peace” ahead of the national budget reading — but vowed that the fight was not over.
“We are not relenting. The concerned unions will push for a restructuring of organized labour,”* he stated. “Next year, we will ensure that workers are properly represented and not sold out.”
He further warned that the disillusionment among workers was “deeper than what people think.”
“If you monitor our platforms, the disappointment is huge. Most of these so-called leaders are not even in active service — they negotiate deals that don’t affect them. It’s time workers take back their unions”, he noted.
Source:asaaseradio.com
