Open letter to FWSC, Organised Labour
I write to bring to the attention of Organised Labour and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) the plight of a section of security personnel employed by various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), with the job title guards (Guard Grade 2, Guard Grade 1, Senior Guard).
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There is an anomaly, in that security/watchman is not affixed as a job title. Thus, we are denied certain privileges/allowances that are paid to our colleagues with the job title security/watchman.
Ironically, we all perform the same 12-hour per shift, night, weekends and public holidays.
An example is the Security Staff (SS) Commuted Overtime Allowance approved by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) to be paid Security Staff who perform more than eight hours per shift.
For about three years (2019-2021), guards have not been included, simply because the Ministry of Finance approval letter used the generic word: security/watchman.
Interestingly, the guard job title has nothing to do with educational qualifications or experience. It is purely semantics, depending on the government institution one finds himself or herself.
GES calls its security "watchmen" while other tertiary institutions also use "watchmen, guards and security. So, it can be likened to the practice in our various state institutions where heads are variously referred to as CEO, MD, DG, etc.
It is, therefore, our plea that as victims of circumstances, in the upcoming 2025 salary negotiations, the FWSC and Organised Labour strongly advocate the addition of security to our guard job titles to reflect as Security Guard Grade 2, Security Guard Grade 1 and Senior Security Guard.
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Because we are all security, and semantics should not deny us our due benefits.
Frank Mensah,
PMB 1,
Akatsi.