There are two classes of workers in Ghana – Labour expert

A labour expert has given a distinction of the classes of workers in Ghana’s labour market.

According to him, there are two classes of workers in the country.

The two classes, he mentioned, are the ordinary worker and the article 71 officeholders.

Mr. Aaron Kumah, who is also a senior lecturer at the Appenteng Appiah Menkah University of Skills and Entrepreneurship Development, said this while speaking on the amount of money spent on the emoluments of Article 71 officeholders.

“While this class of workers enjoys all the largesse, the ordinary worker has to grapple with the current economic crisis, especially the skyrocketing fuel price,” he bemoaned.

He was speaking on the Ghana Yensom morning show hosted by Kwame Obeng Sarkodie on Accra 100.5 on Friday, June 17, 2022.

He noted that the ordinary worker goes for an interview to get employed while the other is appointed by the president.

The ordinary worker is employed on merit and the other is appointed by his or her closeness to the government in power, he noted.

He said that the emoluments of the ordinary worker are determined by the Labour Act, 2003 while the other is determined by the Constitution.

“As part of the Constitutional demand, the president sets up a committee to determine the emoluments of the Article 71 officeholder and it is not varied to their disadvantage,” he said.

“The article 71 officeholders are the only employees in the country that have salaries determined by the president every four years,” he added.