Public Services Workers Union To Strike Over COLA

The Public Services Workers Union is set to strike from July 19 to demand a 20 percent Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).

The union will be joining the pre-tertiary education sector group, which has been on strike since last week.

The groups including the Union of Professional Nurse and Midwives have also joined calls by some public sector workers for the government to pay them the 20% allowance.

In a statement, it said the strike was in response to the government’s lack of action on the request for the allowance, centered on the rise in inflation and cost of living in Ghana.

“In the midst of rising cost of living, inflation currently pegged at 27.6% (with a propensity to rise further),
and pending astronomical increases in utility tariffs, the economic analysis which formed the basis of our
acceptance of a 1-year salary increment for the year 2022 has obviously been thrown out of gear.”

“Considering the worsening economic challenges, members of the PSWU are left with no other option but to draw attention to their economic wellbeing,” the statement added.

The decision to strike was taken at an emergency meeting on July 8.

The Ministry for Employment and Labour Relations will later today hold a second meeting with organized labor over their agitation for the 20% Cost of Living Allowance.

The meeting will specifically be to negotiate the demands of organized labor.