Employment Minister Haruna Iddrisu says he is optimistic government will clinch a deal with striking Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG)

The workers most of whom are in the public service declared a strike in protest over delays in payment of their market premiums. The market premiums are monies paid to workers with special skills.

CLOGSAG members claim despite agreeing a 15 per cent market premium with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, government has reneged on its responsibility to pay the monies. They declared the strike on July 27, 2016 hoping the government will accede to their requests.

But government is not prepared to pay, at least for now. The Employment Minister has threatened the striking workers to return to work or lose their salaries in August.

Not even the threat by the Employment Minister will stop the CLOGSAG workers from calling off their strike.

On the occasion of the Annual Congress of the Trades Union Congress held in Kumasi, Wednesday, the president John Mahama urged CLOGSAG to return to work.

He explained government will not make any market premium payment until 2017.

He said the government will, this year, not repeat the huge budget deficit mostly recorded in previous election years. His views were reiterated by the Employment Minister Haruna Iddirsu in an interview with Joy News.

He said government has so far kept its expenditure targets on track and will not do anything to distort it.

"Any expenditure outside the budget will throw the budget off track," he said adding, the market premium if paid this year will take the budget off tangent.

Haruna Iddrisu stated that government is discussing the parameters for a new MOU with the striking workers and hopes the workers will sign and call off the strike.