Ghana lost an estimated GHC1.47 billion to labour strikes in 2024, with an additional GHC635 million recorded in 2025, the Chief Executive Officer of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, Dr George Smith Graham, has disclosed.
Speaking at a meeting between President John Dramani Mahama and Organised Labour on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, Dr Graham warned that strike actions continue to impose a heavy financial burden on the state.
This year [2026] we’ve had some strikes, and they all come at a huge cost to us as a state,” he said.
He noted that 22 strike actions in 2024 alone accounted for the GHC1.47 billion loss, while eight strikes in 2025 cost the country GHC635 million.
He said the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission would work closely with labour unions to ensure the successful implementation of the new system, aimed at improving fairness and worker satisfaction.
Highlighting challenges within the current pay structure, he acknowledged that the Single Spine Pay Structure requires significant reforms due to persistent disparities.
We have a system where people are doing similar work and paid differently, where allowances have overtaken salaries, and where every few months we are drawn into dispute because the system is fragmented, opaque and increasingly unsustainable,” he said.
“From the technical perspective, it is clear that the current architecture for managing public sector pay has reached its structural limit. What is required now is a structural reform of how remuneration is determined,” he added.
Dr. Graham said although the Single Spine Pay Policy initially corrected distortions in public sector salaries, the system has deteriorated over time.
“Unfortunately, with the passage of time, we are almost back to square one,” he noted.
He also pointed to the role of Parliament and labour unions in contributing to the current disparities, citing decisions made outside the framework of the policy.
The meeting with Organised Labour follows recent agitation by the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana over salary concerns and conditions of service. The union suspended its strike action on March 17, 2026.
Source: GNA
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