Tripartite Committee to Convene (Front Page)

Saturday, February 28, 2009

THE Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, has directed the National Tripartite Committee (NTC) to convene immediately and determine the national daily minimum wage for this year.
The minister explained that his action was consistent with the President’s State of the Nation Address and the need to factor the minimum wage into the 2009 Budget, which is to be laid before Parliament next month.
Dr Duffuor is to present the 2009 Economic Policy and Budget Statement of the government to Parliament on Thursday, March 5, 2009.
The Majority Leader, Mr Alban S.K Bagbin, made this known yesterday when he presented the Business Statement of the House for next week.
He explained that the budget statement would be presented to the House in accordance with the Standing Order 140, which requires the government to present its budget to the House for approval.
In his address Dr Duffuor said “Even though there has been limited time to undertake this task, due mainly to the short transition period, we still believe strongly that the social partners should be consulted before the budget statement is finalised”.
On the salary issue, the Finance Minister cautioned that in kick-starting the salary negotiation process, there was the need to take into consideration the enormous challenges facing the economy which were threatening the macro-economic stability necessary for accelerated growth.
The minister said this at a meeting in Accra yesterday held to enable officials of the Finance Ministry to interact with stakeholders on the labour front.
It was well represented by the Ministry of Manpower and Employment, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, the Ghana Statistical Service and the leadership of the Trades Union Congress (TUC).
Others were representatives from the 17 unions of the TUC, the Ghana Employers Association (GEA), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the Health Workers Group, among others.
In his opening remarks, Dr Duffuor said the government was committed to pursuing a wage policy aimed at ensuring equity in pay systems, while tying workers’ remuneration to productivity.
He explained that although the ministry had planned the meeting since the beginning of the transition, it had to delay because it took some time for the transition team to complete its work.
He took the opportunity to urge members of the NTC to be open-minded in their deliberations.
For his part, the Minister of Manpower and Employment, Mr Stephen Kwao Amoanor, expressed the hope that the committee would come up with decisions which could build bridges among all sides, as well as ensure harmony and peace on the labour front for a better Ghana.
The Secretary-General of the TUC, Mr Kofi Asamoah, said organised labour welcomed the decision by the government before the budget was presented, adding that it had not been happy to learn from the press that the budget was going to be presented without its input.
On wages and salaries, he explained that the process to put in place a single spine salary structure for Ghanaian workers began in 2006, with the first part being completed in June last year, after which the process was truncated.
Mr Asamoah said as the NTC met to deliberate on the issue, there was the need to take into consideration the fact that the Ghanaian worker had not been receiving adequate remuneration for some time now and added that the current economic situation should be considered in determining wages and salaries.
The President of the GEA, Mr Charles Cofie, said Ghana could only attain the $1,000 per capita, as well as a middle- income status, if there were fairness, equity and transparency at the labour front.
He, therefore, called for openness in all discussions involving employers and workers.
The meeting continued behind closed doors.