The General Secretary of the University of Ghana branch of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has called on organized labor and all public sector workers to consider a meeting in response to recent increases in tariffs, fuel, and other commodities prices.
Prof. Ransford Gyampo was disgusted by what he called a paltry increase in workers’ base pay.
He was also dissatisfied with the government’s decision to eliminate the Cost of Living Allowance, give them a paltry 15% raise in base pay, and then raise water and electricity rates by 30%.
According to the lecturer, the current NPP government will go down in history as the worst performing government.
He went on to say that the tariff increase demonstrates the government’s insensitivity.
He wrote “After grueling struggles and intense negotiations, this government withdrew the 15 percent Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) and increased the base pay of public sector workers by 30 percent. What this actually mean is that, workers’ salary was increased by a paltry 15 percent effective January 1, 2023.
But effective February 1, 2023, Electricity Tariff has been increased by 30 percent; and Water Tariff has gone up by 8.3 percent. Fuel prices are expected to shoot up by 5-10 percent while LPG price is expected to increase between 20-25 percent this same month of February.
This is the height of insensitivity displayed by a government that created a sense of hope among public sector workers to catapult it to power. The disappointment is both monumental and legendary and if nothing is done, this regime will go down in Ghana’s political history as the worst!
Dear UTAG; Dear TUC; and Dear All Public Sector Workers,
Are we going to sit down to allow a government that grants us merely 15 percent base pay increment to heap all these tariff hikes on us? We must meet and talk. We won’t sacrifice because they haven’t displayed any sacrifice for us to see!”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
