Workers of the Audit Service in the three northern regions have threatened a strike in two weeks if the Finance Minister fails to implement a salary structure approved by the Office of the President. The workers are now wearing red bans as a prelude to the action which officials say can only be called off if the finance ministry can give signals of an immediate implementation of the scheme. President Kufuor gave a directive for the Finance Ministry to implement a new pay policy for the service in January 2007. This was after workers had hit the street to press home their demand for better remuneration. The policy was to ensure an adjustment in the salaries of workers of the service but the chairman of the Audit Service Workers Union, Reverend Manfred Wodem has told Joy News that the ministry is paying less than the recommended adjustment. According Joy News’ correspondent in Tamale, Bernard Shaibu, the President had, in a letter, directed the Finance Ministry to revise the Audit Service Salary Structure for 2006 to match with the salary structure of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). A paragraph of the letter read: “Following the oversight role the Audit Service is playing over the Internal Revenue Service approval is given for their salaries to be increased by 3% as recommended by the Public Services Commission pending the determination of Public Sector Salaries by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission.” Although the Finance Ministry is said to have issued a response to the President’s directive, it had indicated it could only implement the new policy in January 2008 contrary to the January 2007 date as directed by the President. According to the workers, the ministry has since been quiet on the issue. Reverend Wodem said his colleagues would not hesitate to lay down their tools should the ministry fail to implement the pay policy. Story by Fiifi Koomson