The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) has engaged Organised Labour on plans to replace it with the proposed Independent Public Emoluments Commission (IPEC).
Held under the theme: “Towards an Independent, Equitable, and Sustainable Compensation System: Stakeholders’ Perspectives on Ghana’s Public Sector Pay Reforms,” the 2-day engagement aimed to get labour’s input for the development of a draft IPEC bill to establish the new pay body and shape a pay system that is fair, transparent, and fiscally sustainable for the public sector.
The IPEC Bill when passed will repeal Act 737 to address pay challenges in the public sector.
FWSC Chief Executive, Dr George Smith-Graham, said IPEC must be more than a name change.
He cited years of challenges under the Single Spine Pay Policy.
“IPEC should represent the next generation of public compensation governance,” he stated. “Our purpose is not to manufacture consensus.
It is to understand differences and build a system that commands legitimacy.”
Dr. Smith-Graham assured labour: “Government needs Organised Labour. We do not want you to see yourselves as merely invited to comment on somebody else’s Bill.”
The new compensation architecture, he noted, “will outlive many workers” and must be built with the future of the public service in mind.
More than 50 labour groups attended, including Trades Union Congress (TUC), Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL), Civil and Local Government Staff Association, Ghana (CLOGSAG), University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA).
Organised Labour pledged its support and assured the government of its commitment to actively participate in establishing the IPEC.
The Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Joshua Ansah, made the pledge on behalf of the group during the stakeholder engagement.
He confirmed that Organised Labour would effectively monitor the process and provide critical inputs to ensure the commission's success.
However, he urged the government to keep labour groups involved from start to finish to ensure wide ownership of the new compensation framework.
No half hearted approach
Stressing that public sector pay reforms must be comprehensive rather than fragmented, Mr Ansah cautioned against a half-hearted approach.
"We must have people who start the process from the beginning and end it properly—not start halfway through only to tell a different story. If that happens, our presence here has no meaning," he stated.
"We don't want a piecemeal approach. It should be holistic so that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander."
He reiterated that Organised Labour would work closely with the government to build a fair, transparent, and equitable public sector pay system.
