Tripartite Committee begins negotiations on minimum wage

The National Tripartite Committee (NTC) has commenced negotiations on the National Daily Minimum Wage (NDMW) and the base pay of the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP) for 2017.

Made up of the government, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, the Ghana Employers Association, organised labour and the compensation division of the Ministry of Finance, the NTC is expected in the coming days to conclude negotiations on the minimum wage and the base pay for the 2017 fiscal year.

Currently, the NDMW stands at GH¢8 which represents an increase of 14.29 per cent from the previous GH¢7 in 2015.

A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers.

Fiscal discipline

Briefing the Daily Graphic on the negotiations, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Mr Haruna Iddrisu, said the government team was guided by the President’s determination for fiscal discipline and prudence to resist election year spending.

He explained that the government team was negotiating in good faith, fundamentally with the understanding that the negotiations were conducted in the context of appreciating the current state and strength of the economy and its capacity in 2017 and projections into the future.

Mr Iddrisu said the team would be guided by the commitment to hold the line in ensuring that compensation budget was within acceptable and reasonable limits as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as well as a percentage of government revenue.

Tough negotiations

This year’s negotiations promise to be tough as organised labour is relying on the rate of inflation, the recent utility adjustments and the introduction of the energy sector levy.

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The minister was of the view that organised labour came with a ‘strong hand’, expecting a better outcome but expressed the hope that consensus would be built by the end of July this year or later into September before the next budget.

In October last year, Mr Iddrisu described the government’s move to increase both the daily minimum wage and salaries of public sector workers as a “historic feat” because the government had been unable to achieve that in many years.

Although minimum wage laws differ in many jurisdictions, differences of opinion exist over its benefits and drawbacks. In some parts of the world, supporters of the minimum wage argue that it increases the standard of living of workers, reduces poverty, reduces inequality, boosts morale and forces businesses to be more efficient while opponents of the minimum wage hold the view that it increases poverty, increases unemployment (particularly among unskilled or inexperienced workers) and is damaging to business.

Writer’s email: sebastian.syme@graphic.com.gh