The Trades Union Congress of Ghana, (TUC) has uncharacteristic conceded that public sector wages have increased substantially in real terms under the present government.

In page 28 of the Policy research conducted and funded by Ghana Research and Advocacy Programme (GRAP) inconjunction with Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and Ghana Civil Servants Association stated, ?This has been achieved in spite of the huge pressure on government particularly from the IMF to cap public sector wage bill at a certain percentage of the GDP and government revenue. It is therefore fair to say that the recent public sector wage increases could not be attributed solely to union pressure, but also, it is partly the result of government?s commitment to increase public sector wages as a means of attracting and retaining more qualified professionals into the sector,?.

The following were found in the research published in March 2006; ?First, we noticed some significant changes in public sector wages between 2000 and 2005. Basic salary in the public sector was below one US dollar-a-day between 2000 and 2002. As shown in the table below, the basic salary in the public sector was only $17 per month in 2000. It increased to $22 per month in 2001 and to $24 in 2002. It reached the one-dollar-a-day benchmark in 2003 and increased to $41 per month in 2005.

Thus, between 2000 and 2005, the nominal value of the basic public sector wage on the GUSS increased (in US dollar terms) by 141 percent. The public sector wage did not only increase in nominal terms but also in real terms (when it is adjusted for inflation using the annual average CPI).? stated at Page 21of the research.

YearBasic Monthly Public Sector Salary (?)Basic Monthly Public Sector Salary ($)2000114 750172001150 323222002195 419242003251 505302004306 081342005368 93741

This TUC research was conducted in 2005. Now, with the 2006 increases in wages, including the recent 20% across-board increase, public sector wages have again increased substantially thereafter.

As of today, May 2006, the Basic Monthly Public Sector Salary on the Ghana Universal Salary Structure is ?528 120 or $58. This represents an increase of $41 over its December 2000 value. Thus, in dollar terms, the basic public sector salary is currently more than three (3) times what it was in December 2000.

Though the paper attributes this remarkable improvement to growing worker? agitation and pressure, the research also admits, in admirably honest terms, that: ?This has been achieved in spite of the huge pressure on government particularly from the IMF to cap public sector wage bill at a certain percentage of the GDP and government revenue. It is therefore fair to say that the recent public sector wage increases could not be attributed solely to union pressure, but also, it is partly the result of government?s commitment to increase public sector wages as a means of attracting and retaining more qualified professionals into the sector.?