More public sector workers are piling pressure on the Akufo-Addo administration to pay them a 20% cost of living allowance (COLA).

It comes after teacher unions in state-run pre-tertiary schools declared a nationwide strike on Tuesday to demand similar allowances.

In a press statement issued on Tuesday, the Union of Professional Nurse and Midwives (UPNM) said they associate themselves with the ongoing strike jointly declared by the Tertiary Education Workers’ Union (TEWU), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana and the Teachers and Educational Workers Union over the COLA.

According to the health workers, the allowance is to help cushion them from the harsh economic situation in the country.

The union argued that the government appears to be dragging its feet with regard to ensuring their welfare.

“In 2014, a cost of living allowances (COLA) of 10% of Public Sector Workers Basic salary was paid to workers to cushion us when things got tough due to high cost of living. In 2022, we find ourselves in a similar economic situation, and we expected nothing short of a similar stop-gap measure to cushion the many nurses and midwives in the country,” the statement said.

While appealing to the government to immediately turn attention to health workers and pay them the 20% COLA, UPNMG said it wants the government to urgently take a look at the working conditions of nurses and midwives.

But the group is not alone. The leadership of the Senior Staff Association- Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG) has also threatened to direct its members to lay down their tools over similar concerns.

“Therefore, the National Leadership is joining forces with other Sister Unions to demand the 20% Cost-of-Living Allowance also known as CoLA to help cushion the living standards of our members who are wallowing in abject poverty”, the leadership noted in a joint statement copied to dailymailgh.com.

The SSA-UoG further wants other concerns addressed including the failure of the government to pay all Tier-2 outstanding interests from 2010 to 2016 to its members according to the expressed dictate of the National Pensions Act, 2008 (Act
766).

SOURCE: DAILY MAIL GH