Accra, Jan. 14, GNA - The Civil Servants Association (CSA), on Wednesday denied media report that it opposes pay rise, Mr James Ekow Amissah, Executive Secretary of the association said. "We have all been advocating pay rise so how come that government is giving us money and we will oppose to it. That is a fallacy," he said in reaction to the publication that appeared in the Ghanaian Times newspaper on Tuesday January 13, 2009.

Stating the CSA position, Mr Amissah in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra said the pay rise announcement by the immediate past government should not be linked to the Single-Spine Salary Structure which was not in operation. He said a press statement to announce the pay increase on January 6, 2009 by the former Deputy Minister of Information linked the pay rise to the Single-Spine Pay Structure which was incorrect. Mr Amissah said at a stakeholder meeting at Aplaku in Accra last July, the CSA made an input regarding the grading structure for jobs in the Civil Service.

He said some of the concerns raised by the Association were that the current incremental rate within the Service, that is the Ghana Universal Salary Structure, was three per cent but that of the proposed Single-Spine Pay Structure has not been made available. However, he said, it was the view of the CSA that whatever incremental rate that would be determined for the Single-Spine Pay Structure should not make Civil Servants worse off. Mr Amissah said the process of the proposed Single-Spine must be transparent for all to appreciate and understand in order to ensure fairness and equity adding that there was the need to review upward the graduate entry point as well as other jobs in the Civil Service. "It is to be noted that movement within bands should be used to reward performance while movement from one band to the other should be occasioned by promotion.

"We wish to further state that we have not seen the final draft report of the new structure to confirm whether our numerous concerns have been addressed.

"While we endorse the principle that underpin the development of the Single Spine Pay Policy, we expect transparency, adequate consultation, consensus-building and negotiations to inform the implementation of the new pay policy," he Amissah said.