The First Vice Chair of the Public Service Workers Union (PSWU), Joachim El Barzar, has noted that the lack of progress in negotiations with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission has been ongoing since May 2023. His remarks came after workers of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) initiated a strike on September 18, driven by ongoing frustrations regarding their allowances and wages.
He stated that, despite multiple attempts to reach an agreement, including several meetings, the commission has postponed discussions without substantial resolutions. “We tried many times to meet with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, even on four occasions. The last time, they just told us they would postpone it and get back to us. At the end of that particular period, on May 31, we decided to sit down and discuss, but they kept giving us a lot of excuses.”
He expressed disappointment at the minimal increase offered for their civic education allowance, which he believes does not reflect the contributions of workers. “We were receiving a ten percent civic education allowance and proposed that it be increased to at least 35 percent. However, when we sat down to negotiate these allowances, they presented a paper saying they would only give us a 2 percent increase to make it up to 11 percent. Is that not insulting? We are asking for 25 percent to reach our 35 percent target, yet they decided to offer us only 2 percent out of the 25 percent we requested.”
He emphasized the importance of the striking workers’ roles in promoting democracy and civic engagement, stating that their demands for necessary allowances are reasonable. “This is a crucial period for all of us to ensure that there is peace and transparency in whatever we are doing. This shouldn’t have been the time for NCCE to go on strike; we started negotiations with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission in May 2023. This could have been resolved last year. Nobody would have heard of this; it’s as simple as that.”
He specifically underscored the allowances workers seek to increase, including democracy retention, housing allowance, hardship allowance, and professional development allowances, among others.
With the strike underway, NCCE workers have declared that no civic education activities will take place until the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission is willing to engage in serious negotiations. “We are saying that no worker should go anywhere to conduct civic education until the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission comes back to NCCE so that we can sit down and negotiate. They have just turned down our offers, and I think they want to do their own thing.”
“After declaring the strike, we heard that the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission is asking us to reconsider our strike and return to work, but we said no. We need to reach a consensus first before we can come back to work. Before anyone can think, we have already thought it through,” he added.
He urged the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to do the necessary by calling for negotiations as soon as possible. “What we are asking for is not too much for the government; it’s not too much for the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission. Why have they refused to consider us since last year? They should have also done the needful.”
Source: A1Radioonline.Com | 101.1 MHZ | Gifty Eyram Kudiabor| Bolgatanga |
