Public sector workers to enjoy 7% increment in base pay – Employment Minister

The Minister for Employment and Labour Relation, Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, has announced a seven percent increment in the base pay of public sector workers for the year 2022. This is a raise from the four percent which was announced earlier in 2021.

Speaking at the 90th-anniversary ceremony of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) in Kumasi, Ignatius Baffour Awuah said the increase will take immediate effect.

“In return, we had to negotiate with the leadership of Organized Labour, and in the process, we had to agree that we had to be modest in our request on the national kitty. The beautiful thing is that we are moving on, and we had agreed that coming into this current year, the 4 percent will no longer exist and that we are going to give workers 7 percent which is an increment. It is my hope and belief that things begin to work better for the economy of our country, so we can give our workforce a better remuneration we can actually be proud of,” Mr. Awuah said.

In 2021, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) agreed on the base pay increment for public sector workers, as part of labour negotiations with government.

However, after the agreement, some members of the labour unions expressed their disappointment saying, the percentage increase was too small.

An alliance comprising public sector workers subsequently protested to express their anger and demand an upward review in the face of “economic hardship.”