Stakeholders Fine-tune New Pay Reform Report

Government on Friday said it has ended another stakeholder meeting on the job evaluation report to deepen further, the consultative process of introducing a new pay reform. A statement signed by Mr Robertson Akwei Allotey, Chief Director of the Ministry of Public Sector Reforms said the meeting examined the report on Pay comparison, Allowances and the Single Spine as part of the roadmap to submit a comprehensive pay policy report to government. It said “one significant outcome of the meeting was the need to intensify public education on pay reform.” “The challenge as aptly put by the Minister of Public Sector Reforms, Mr Samuel Owusu-Agyei, was that while the individual interest was important, there was the need for all to be mindful of the national interest for the sake of harmony and peace in the country,” the statement said. The Minister therefore appealed to organised labour to exercise the needed restraint and allow the consultant to complete its work. “This is to ensure that all stakeholders’ concerns are addressed in a holistic manner,” it added. The meeting was attended by 81 representatives from Organised Labour and Public Service Institutions. The Ministers of Public Sector Reforms, and Manpower, Youth and Employment under whose ‘shoulders’ the whole process of pay policy rest attended the meeting, which spanned from March 2 to 4, 2008. The Chairman of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, Dr Robert Aboagye Mensah, who is also the Presiding Member of the Methodist Church of Ghana, Mrs Frema Osei Opare, Deputy Minister of Manpower, Youth and Employment and Professor S.N Woode, Chairman of the Public Services Commission also attended the meeting.