The Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG) has called off its three-week-old strike, Thursday.

This was announced by CLOGSAG National Executives after they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government represented by the Employment Ministry.

CLOGSAG has been on strike demanding government pays its members a 15 percent interim market premium but President Mahama had said government’s 2016 budget “would be thrown completely off-track” if he were to issue payment.

Negotiations to have the striking workers return to work stalled for a while with the government threatening to withhold the August salaries of the striking workers.

Addressing the media at the end of the negotiation, Employment Minister, Haruna Iddrisu, said government has agreed to pay members of the Association an interim market premium effective January 2017.

This, he said is different from the market premium government pays to public workers whose services are essential to the nation.

“This is my emphasis that market premium is to reward and compensate for scarcity of skills and therefore, it is not government policy that labourers and cooks will demand market premium,” he said.

According to him, government will be categorising public workers “who deserves market premium whether in education or health or in the civil and local government services it will only be given to the deserving workers.”

Mr Iddrisu said the new market premium policy of the government would be announced in 2017.

He cautioned public sector workers to be mindful of demanding market premium from government.

Mr Iddrisu encouraged the leadership of CLOGSAG to “engage the Fair Wages and Salary Commission [FWSC]’s subcommittee to make justification [for members to be included].”