Our salaries no longer take us home – TUC Chairman

Mr Ibrahim Wemah, the Upper West Regional Chairman of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), says members of the union are going through a lot of hardship due to the rising cost of living in recent times.

He explained that the wages and salaries of their members were woefully inadequate to cater for the needs of their families saying, “Our salaries no longer take us home, it only brings suffering to our homes.”

Mr Wemah said this when he addressed members of the TUC during the Labour Day celebration in Wa on Sunday, on the theme: “Protecting Jobs and Incomes in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic”.

Labour groups including the Public Utility Workers Union (PUWU), Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU), Teachers and Education Workers Union (TEWU) and Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) among others participated in the celebration.

The address was preceded by a route march through some principal streets in the Wa township with participants wielding placards some of which read: “Corruption retards a nation’s development”, “Mr President be ruthless with corrupt public officials”, “Pay rise should not be below inflation”, “Reduce inflation rate now” and “Mr President honour your promise to Ghanaian teachers” among others.

Nine members of the various labour groups were recognized and awarded 43-inch flat-screen television sets and citations each for their dedicated services to the groups and the nation at large.

Mr Wemah questioned when the suffering of the members of the union would end as they were the worst affected people by the rising cost of living and high cost of commodities such as fuel and food.

He suggested that the government should review the Automatic Adjustment Formula on the petroleum products to help solve the problem of the incessant increase in fuel prices, which was affecting Ghanaian workers.

Dr Hafiz Bin Salih, the Upper West Regional Minister, in a speech read on his behalf by the Upper West Regional Coordinating Director, Mr Peter Maala, urged the labour unions to put in efforts to increase their productivity to complement the government’s efforts in recovering the economy.

“Productivity is key to economic growth, in which the worker plays a key role. Permit to use this occasion to appeal to my fellow dedicated workers to maximise our efforts to increase productivity in all sectors of the economy”, he said.

Dr Salih explained that lack of commitment on the part of workers was a bane to business development which had a rippling effect on the economy and general livelihood of the people.

On his part, Mr Godwin Gariba, the Upper West Regional Secretary of the TUC, who read the May Day message, noted that due to the high cost of commodities in the market, the salary of the Ghanaian worker lost its real value as it was not able to meet the needs of the worker.

According to him, the plight of the workers would worsen in the coming months if pragmatic steps were not taken to reduce the cost of living.

“We, therefore, call on the government to suspend all taxes and levies on petrol, diesel, LPG, and Kerosene until international prices of crude oil and the value of the cedi are stabilised. This will bring down prices of fuel products and ease the burden on Ghanaians”, he said.