Kofi Ahovi

  Organized Labour has said that it will reject the government’s plan to introduce a Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) in next year’s salaries negotiations instead of increasing the salaries of public sector workers. COLA is an allowance given to government employees as short-term relief when immediate salary increments cannot be made. Organized Labour says that it is rejecting the COLA because it won’t have any positive effect on pension payments and other benefits.   Speaking to journalists in Accra, Deputy General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Joshua Ansah, said that Organized Labour will demand a rise in salary instead of a mere COLA. I don’t think it will be wise for us to go for COLA because COLA does not affect our pensions, doesn’t affect our earnings. So we think that it is better for us to go straight and get what is due us. And remember that I made the point that if the government wants to go to the IMF we want to caution the government that their decis...

 A coalition of four Associations of health workers have served notice that they will embark on industrial action in a move to demand a 20 percent Cost of Living Allowance (COLA). In a series of moves that intended to grind healthcare delivery at public facilities to a halt, the four groups namely; the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA); Health Services Workers' Union (HSWU); and Government and Hospital Pharmacists Association (GHOSPA) say if negotiations on COLA are not completed by July 22, 2022, they will embark on a series of actions that will disrupt the health sector. A press release jointly signed by the General Secretary of the GMA, Dr. Titus K. Beyuo, the President of the GTNMA, Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo; the General Secretary of the HSWU of the Trade Union Congress and the Chairman of GHOSPA, Pharmacist Nathan Coompson said the action will begin with the wearing of red arm/wrist bands in all health facilities between Jul...

Pre-Tertiary teacher unions in Ghana have declared an indefinite strike action with immediate effect following the failure of government to pay the cost of living allowance (COLA) they asked for. The unions are the Ghana National Association of Teachers, National Association of Graduate Teachers, Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana and the Teachers and Educational Workers Union. The unions declared the strike Monday morning (July 4, 2022) at a press conference in Accra, reports Emmanuel Bonney & Faith Ayorkor Mensah. The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations has invited the leadership of teacher unions to a meeting over their demands for the payment of cost of living allowance (COLA) to members. It said only the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) had responded to attend, with the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Coalition of Concerned Teachers-Ghana (CCT-GH) and the Teacher and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) yet to respond. It said once t...

  The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has called on the government to as, a matter of urgency, expedite action on issues of Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) and base pay for teachers and workers in general. When implemented, the association said, it would alleviate the plight of workers in the prevailing economic challenges that had seen prices of foodstuffs and other items soaring. According to the GNAT, there was an uneasy calm among workers as a result of delays over the issues, hence the need for the government to come clear by the end of this month to ensure industrial harmony. As we speak now, workers are complaining and agitating because the prices of food items, as well as goods and services are rising. Let us treat human security issues as national security matters," the General Secretary of GNAT, Thomas Musah, told the Daily Graphic in an interview in Accra yesterday. Financial Act Musah said the Public Financial Management Act (2016) provided that by April ...