The Forum for Public Sector Associations and Unions issued a statement on Base Pay Increment Proposals to the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations (MELR) outlining the reasons behind the demand for Base Pay Increment in the 2023 budget year.
On the Single Spine Salary Structure, an increase in Base Pay (60%) was recommended.
They referred to COLA’s actions against the National Daily Minimum Wage over the years in the suggestions they made and had signed with the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations (MELR), saying;
“as a result of accepting COLA instead of normal salary increase and granting increases in National Daily Minimum Wage that were higher than the percentage increase in the Base Pay, a wide gap has been created between the National Daily Minimum Wage and the Base Pay.”
The statement also constrained it to the daily Base Pay for 2022. The daily Base Pay in 2022, they said
“Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) is 16.26% below the 2022 National Daily Minimum Wage,”
They discussed their strategies for bridging the gap and reestablishing the 10% while taking into account the federal daily minimum wage. The daily Base Pay should be GH14.88 plus 10%, or GH16.37, in 2023.
Therefore, GH5,303.23 should be the yearly Base Pay under the Single Spine Salary Structure in 2023.
At this moment, they modestly suggest the 60 percent increase on the 2022 Base Pay, which was motivated by provocative trends and the fact that the national daily minimum wage has received a 15 percent COLA.
They continued, “We humbly suggest that a 60% rise on the 2022 Base Pay should be taken into consideration.