Labour Minister Dr Rashid Pelpuo has dismissed claims that Ghanaian workers have been shortchanged by the recent salary agreement following the electricity and water tariff increases.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on December 9, he said the government is closely monitoring the situation and engaging with labour and the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to ensure mutual understanding.
“Government is very curious about what is going to happen. We are watching, and we are speaking to PURC, we are speaking to labour as well, and we want to make sure there’s a close understanding of what has happened, that each of us will take our stance and labour continues to work as effectively as we know them to be doing,” he said.
Dr Pelpuo stressed that government will honour its commitments and urged continuous dialogue to ensure a balanced outcome.
He said workers have always shown understanding and willingness to sacrifice for the national good.
“In fact, we have always been lucky. I’ve always been lucky to see that labour not just want to walk along, but also willing to sacrifice a little, which is normal for every Ghanaian to do now, that as we go along, there comes a time when you need to sacrifice a lot for the general good of the people,” he said.
He acknowledged the economic challenges the government inherited and the difficult decisions required to balance public finances.
“We told them the challenges we were facing, we told them the difficult nature of the economy, which is still having some effects in the present situation.
“And they get to understand the situation, and we’re willing to go along with this. And you’ve seen it in the increments that we negotiated and agreed on,” Dr Pelpuo said.
Addressing concerns over the combined effect of salary adjustments and tariff hikes, the minister rejected claims that workers’ income had been deliberately reduced.
“It will be difficult to give you a direct answer to that. Maybe we don’t call it shortchange, but we look at it as a question: how will it have a total effect on the worker? Is it going to be a direct consequence of deliberately hurting the income of workers and creating a problem for them?” he said.
He explained that the final 9.8% increment reflected careful negotiations influenced by PURC’s analysis of multiple indicators.
“The negotiation that went on, including the influence of the PURC, that resulted into the 9.8% was because of every indicator, many of the indicators they brought to fore, which enabled them to come to reality and find what we and presented what we have today. So I think that it shouldn’t be looked at in a negative form,” he said.
Dr Pelpuo encouraged continued dialogue and understanding between government and labour to ensure future interventions protect workers’ welfare while supporting the nation’s economic stability.