Review SSPP to avoid labour agitations — Prof. Adei
A former Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Professor Stephen Adei, has called for a comprehensive review of the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP) to avoid further labour agitations.
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He suggested that the policy be reviewed by a competent, non-political team, with the involvement of the labour unions, to halt needless industrial actions and disruptions which were affecting the country’s development.
Prof. Adei was speaking at the inauguration of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Administrators Association of Ghana (CAAG) in Accra yesterday.
Labour unrest
The association was formed with the objective to, among other goals negotiate fair wages for its members under the SSPP.
The administrative staff of the council are currently in tango with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) for giving higher salaries to scientists and researchers of the council than the commission gave them under the SSPP, although they have the same entry requirements and were on the same structure before the introduction of the new pay policy.
The SSPP was introduced in January 2010 to motivate public service workers to improve service delivery and productivity.
The policy is based on the results of job analysis and evaluation as a basis for establishing the equal-pay-for-equal-work principle.
However, since the implementation of the policy, many groups and unions had staged strikes because of wage discrepancies relating to the policy.
Invest in research
According to Prof. Adei, labour felt cheated under the SSPP because “before they could celebrate the new salaries, the cedi went into tail spin, inflation rose and the purchasing power of the cedi has fallen”.
He added that institutions were also raging in “cold and open war” regarding book and research allowances, while others continued to battle with their colleagues over salary equity.
“I believe there are win-win options at the national level if the government chooses a transparent and honest approach and labour comes to the bargaining table with Ghana as the first agenda,” he stated.
He said GIMPA successfully implemented the single spine policy 10 years before the national experiment by consolidating all salaries and increasing salaries as productivity increased.
Prof. Adei, therefore, urged the association to use its unity to find a better approach to resolve the issues and see their role in the council as significant.
Touching on research, he said the government needed to adequately fund research by committing half or one per cent of the Gross Domestic Product to it.
“Nations that do not spend between 0.5 and one per cent of their national income on research remain hewers of stone and drawers of water and their natural resources will only benefit other nations. Ghana is in such a situation,” he stated.
Director-General
The Director-General of the CSIR, Dr Abdulai B. Salifu, urged the association to use its platform for a good cause which would enhance the image and productivity of the council.
He said the association should not be used only as a means to negotiate for salary increment but also as an innovative group to bring about change and improvement in the council.
The President of the CAAG, Mr Mohammed Baba Brimah, said the objective of the association was to seek the welfare of its members, as well as improve on their services to the council.