President John Dramani Mahama has urged organised labour to be moderate in their demands for this year, citing the need to correct defects in the economy.
Speaking to labour leaders in Accra on Thursday, February 20, he said:
“Comrades, we know we are your natural allies, we have worked together for many years. One thing that is a cardinal principle for us is to tell the truth at all times, we all knew that the economy was in crisis but some of the things I am discovering myself, have been a criminal handling of our economy, Ghana is a crime scene because how a government can be so reckless I can’t understand it.”
Mahama emphasized the need for sacrifices, stating:
“But we are faced with a reality, our options are very few, we can behave like the ostriches and hide our heads in the sand and let the economy crash but then what effect will it have on Ghanaian households and everybody? So I have told the Finance Minister to cut expenditure as much as he likes, even we ourselves in government machinery, cut as much of our budget as you like because we all must make those sacrifices.”
He also addressed the issue of distrust towards the political class, saying:”A certain distrust for the political class has arisen because it is like when everybody else is tightening their belt, the political class is loosening itself. I want to assure you that we are all going to tighten our belts. and there will be no wasteful expenditure.”
Mahama appealed to labour leaders to temper their demands, promising that once the economy is back on track, the national cake will be shared equitably.
“I will just appeal to you that let us tamper our demands for this year, once we get out of the woods, we have set targets to bring inflation down, and we have set targets to grow the economy to make things better, when the cake is big and is bigger we will share it bigger.”
“We are proposing an independent emoluments committee that will set the incomes for everybody from the president to the ordinary labourer,” Mahama added.
The government has approved a 10% salary increase for public sector workers, effective January 1, and a 10% increase in the national daily minimum wage, which will take effect on March 1, 2025.
Announcing the decision, the Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Abdul-Rashid Pelpuo, said:”There has been an increase in the national daily minimum wage by 10 per cent over the 2024 National Daily Minimum Wage which translates into a new national daily minimum wage of 19.97 Cedis.
“The effective date for the implementation of the 2025 minimum wage shall be the first of March 2025, all establishments, institutions or organisations whose daily minimum wages are below the new wage should adjust accordingly.”