The Director of the Labour and Research Institute of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Dr. Kwabena Nyarko Otoo has revealed that the average pay of a worker on a single spine salary in 2022 is ₵1,800.

With no sign of government looking to increase salaries of public sector workers and the country’s severe economic situation, he stated that the situation has a double impact on workers trying to make a living.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, he said, “The deficit pictures you showed clearly shows that the economy is in hard times. Of course, yesterday I also showed figures that compares for example the average wage on a single spine in 2022 with the cost of living index and managed to show that workers are also in serious deficit.

“We are dealing with two deficits here and we must bear that one in mind. So if you’re a worker on a single spine and the average pay there is 1,800. Back to back, you have to pay for your children’s education, you have to rent a house, you have to do all those things.”

Adding to what Dr. Nyarko Otoo had said, the President for the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Eric Agbe-Carbonu had further revealed that the situation was worse for workers within the pre-tertiary education sector.

He said, “But it is even lower when you do the average within the pre-tertiary teacher level. So for example, a fresh graduate from the University into the Ghana Education Service is taking less than 1600 a month.”

He then added that the heads of several top public senior high schools in the country do not receive more than ₵3,500 as take-home salary.

“And then the headmaster for Presec and Achimota do not have their salaries more than 3,500. That is take-home. So I’m talking about Achimota, I’m talking about Presec, I’m talking about Mfantsipim, I’m talking about Wesley Girls,” he said.

“So when you interrogate the specifics of incomes at different sectors and at different services that is when the disparity will begin to start hitting you realistically,” he added.

Eric Agbe-Carbonu noted that due to the low remuneration pre-tertiary level teachers receive, the recent hikes in the prices of goods and services is taking a real toll on them.

“Well, you get the pressure from members because members will send you messages and complaints about how come that looking at the dire economic situation that we find ourselves why is leadership not going to review incomes, emoluments, conditions of service?

“Because there is a direct reflection of the items that you’ve enumerated for example the depreciation of the cedi, high cost of fuel, LPG gas and so on and so forth. There’s a direct relationship with all these increases to the very standard of living of the people down there. So it is felt,” he said.

He noted that the tempestuous relationship between labour and the government in recent times is merely a reaction to the action unfolding in their various homes.

“And whenever you see that there is tempestuous relationship between labour and government, anytime, it’s a direct reflection of the economic situation and how that economic situation is hitting hard at that worker. So it is not a funfair issue, it is just a reaction to the actual reaction that is happening in our homes,” he said.