David Dorkenoo, head of the International Department of the Ghana Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called on government to establishment an independent body to provide reliable data on employment-related issues in the country. He explained that such information would enable the Government to effectively plan and monitor the performances of various sectors of the economy. Mr. Dorkenoo, who was addressing members of the Sunyani Municipal Council of Labour at a meeting in Sunyani, called for the reformation of the public sector salary administration to ensure that workers received salaries equal to their output. Mr. Dorkenoo expressed regret that only 5,000 out of the more than 250,000 young people who entered the labour market annually were able to secure jobs in the formal sector. He said the TUC was currently supporting organized labour to solve public sector problems, especially the determination of wages and salaries. Kwasi Adu-Amankwaah, General Secretary of the TUC, said the Congress would support government in taking comprehensive steps to rationalize issues concerning wages and salaries in the public sector once and for all. He also suggested that the determination of pay for public servants should be guided by "equal pay for work of equal value, fairness, transparency and consistency." Mr. Adu-Amankwaah noted that even though there were many dimensions to the public sector salaries and wages issue, the most important aspect had to do with the low level of pay. He observed that any policy that restricted the upward adjustment of pay for all workers to reasonable levels would affect efforts aimed at solving problems in the public sector. Concerning the redenomination of the cedi, Mr. Adu-Amankwaah said it was a laudable decision by government but called for intensive public education to offset difficulties that people might face when the exercise commenced. J.K. Ankama, Brong-Ahafo Regional secretary of the TUC, said the meeting sought to educate participants on the operations, objectives and policies of the Congress, and to suggest ways of moving the association forward. Source: GNA