Organised Labour is threatening to embark on an indefinite industrial action on Tuesday, December 27, 2022.
The organisation has been at loggerheads with the government over its single-spine salary and the exemption of pension funds invested in government bonds from its exchange programme.
The Trade Union Congress (TUC), one of its subdivisions, gave the government a one-week deadline last week, on December 13, 2022, to exempt its pension funds from the domestic exchange programme.
The ultimatum has however fallen on deaf ears as the government failed to pay heed to their demands.
Speaking at a press conference, the Secretary General of the TUC, Dr Anthony Yaw Baah said the strike will be in force until the government exempts pension funds from the planned debt exchange programme.
Addressing a group of agitated members, he noted that the programme in its original state will negatively affect pension funds of its members and their retirement income security.
“We have analysed the debt exchange programme, and after a thorough analysis of the programme and a very extensive discussion among the leadership of TUC and affiliates, our conclusion is very firm. And it is that the programme will negatively affect the pension funds of our members and consequently their retirement income security.’
He insisted that the congress will resist any attempts by the government to touch the funds of its members.
According to him, “Already, pensions are low and we would have thought that our government would do everything to protect the small pension we have. Instead, they are introducing a programme inspired by the International Monetary Fund to cut further pension income. Therefore, the Trades Union Congress and all its affiliates have decided that the pension funds of our members will not be part of the domestic debt exchange programme,” he added.
“Workers will no longer bear the consequences of any IMF-inspired programmes, government is responsible for all the consequences of its decisions, including the decision to seek an IMF bailout. If government refuses to accede to our demand to exempt pension funds from the Debt Exchange Programme after the one-week ultimatum, all workers should be ready to participate fully in any industrial action to protect our pension funds,” he added.
Debt Exchange Programme
The Government launched the Debt Exchange Programme on Monday, December 5, 2022, as part of efforts to reduce the country’s debt burden.
The Domestic Debt operation involves an exchange for new Ghana bonds with coupons of a longer average maturity. Existing domestic bonds as of December 1, 2022, will no longer be exchanged for a set of four new bonds maturing in 2027, 2029, 2032, and 2037.
The annual coupon on all these new bonds, according to the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, will be set at zero percent in 2023, five percent in 2024, and 10 percent in 2025 until maturity. Coupon payments will be semi-annual, with the programme not affecting individual bondholders.
The minister asserted that the debt exchange programme is part of a comprehensive agenda to restore debt and fiscal sustainability.
Source: The Independent Ghana