The Public Services Workers’ Union (PSWU) on Tuesday announced that it would embark on an industrial strike, beginning Monday, October 21, 2024.

The strike is a response to the failure of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to meet the union’s demands for the payment of Institution-Specific Allowances.

The PSWU, which represents approximately 45 critical public sector organizations, expressed frustration at the government’s failure to address long-standing concerns.

Among these is the delayed implementation of recommendations made by a nine-member government-appointed committee that reviewed the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP) in 2022.

The union at a press conference on Tuesday, October 15, addressed by its General Secretary, Mr Bernard Adjei, noted that the report of the committee, which was expected to address key issues affecting public sector workers, had yet to be acted upon by the Government.

“In order to secure our collective survival as workers, we are left with no other option than to also reactivate our previously communicated industrial action,” the PSWU said.

However, before the strike action starts, “all PSWU members subsisting on the SSPP shall wear red bands from today Tuesday, October 15,” the Union directed to signal their discontent.

The Union urged the government to take immediate steps to address their concerns, warning that the planned strike could disrupt key public services across the country.

The PSWU expressed concern over what it described as an “unfair salary administration regime” by the FWSC, claiming that salary disparities had been allowed to persist within the public sector.

“The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission has over the years, but recently intensified its supervision of an unfair salary administration regime which is heavily discriminatory against the PSWU and its member organizations,” the General Secretary said.

The Union alleged that within its current economic hardship and fast eroding value in its wages, “the Fair Wages has resorted to undue delays, sometimes dragging their feet for two years during negotiations with us. Unfortunately, we are currently handling several such cold cases.”

The PSWU averred that workers with the same qualifications and job responsibilities were being paid differently, a situation it believes is “discriminatory”.

“To make matters worse, they have happily supervised the granting of sumptuous conditions of service to other Unions operating within the public sector and have no issues with personalising the conditions of service to individuals such that two people with the same qualifications and who are on the same work schedule and deliver the same output are receiving different remuneration. How? I mean how?” it questioned.

Members of the PSWU had previously suspended planned industrial action following engagements with the FWSC in September 2024.

However, the union said, since those meetings, no further progress had been made, forcing them to reactivate their strike plans.

The General Secretary reaffirmed the union’s readiness to begin the strike on October 21 if their demands remained unmet.

He said the union was committed to promoting integrity, solidarity, excellence, and democracy among its members.

The PSWU, formed in 1959, is one of the largest unions affiliated with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and boasts a membership of about 28,000 workers from 68 organizations (Divisions).