TUC calls for reduction in fuel prices
The Trades Union Congress has called on the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to reduce fuel prices as a matter of urgency.
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It noted that the prices of crude oil on the international market had, since June 2014, halved and, therefore, found the failure of the NPA to reduce fuel prices unjustifiable.
A statement signed by its Secretary General, Mr Kofi Asamoah, and issued in Accra yesterday after its General Council meeting noted that a substantial reduction in fuel prices would “help reduce inflation and the cost of living”.
Cedi stability
It noted the relative stability of the cedi in the last few months and attributed that to the reversal of the foreign exchange rules implemented by the Bank of Ghana in the first half of the year.
“We would like to advise the Bank of Ghana to refrain from implementing such inappropriate regulations,” it said.
On the high and rising cost of living in the country, it urged the government to put in place measures to control the rising cost of living.
“In the meantime, we expect the negotiation of the 2015 national daily minimum wage and base pay on the Single Spine Pay Structure to conclude without further delay.
“A higher minimum wage and base pay will reduce the negative effects of the high cost of living on workers and their families,” it stated.
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Social protection
The statement expressed concern over what it termed the “government’s intransigence” to impose a pensions trust on public sector workers, in defiance of the law and the wishes of the workers and their unions.
It said although it was aware that the parties were in court, it urged the “parties to withdraw the case from the courts so that, together, we can deal with it like any other industrial relations dispute.”
While acknowledging the need for a review of some sections of the National Pensions Act, 2008 (Act 766), it found the manner and process of the review, especially doing so under a certificate of urgency, “reprehensible and a slap in the face of principled dialogue”.
The statement said it expected the government to have consulted widely on this issue before the amendment and, therefore, called on President John Mahama to delay his assent until all stakeholders had discussed and agreed to the amendment of the Act.
It wished Ghanaians a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.