Minimum wage: Employers’ ability to pay must be looked at – Employers Association
Alex Frimpong, CEO of Ghana Employers Association
Organised labour’s demands will be subject to negotiations, GEA.
Read full articleWorker Unions threaten strike
Minimum wage figure must help sustain businesses in the country - GEA CEO
Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Employers’ Association, Alex Frimpong, has stated that despite the importance of heeding to the demands of labour unions, employers’ ability to pay according to the minimum wage should be analyzed.
He stated the demands of labour unions will be subject to negotiations by all parties involved in the Tripartite Committee.
Speaking on JoyNews, Alex Frimpong noted that the technical sub-committee of the Tripartite Committee has been put together to work out the various scenarios taking into consideration different economic indicators to come up with figures that would be presented to the plenary for negotiating the national minimum wage for 2023.
“So once the report is ready, the parties will study it and consult their constituents and the negotiations begin,” he said.
According to him, labour’s demands for a review of the minimum wage are relevant but, inasmuch as “we may want to look at the needs of workers which is very important, we may also want to look at the economy as a whole, and most importantly the employer’s ability to pay.”
“And per the ILO convention on the minimum wage, these are three important factors that must come into play when you’re discussing a national daily minimum wage,” the GEA boss submitted.
He stated that organized labour, “will be subject to negotiations by the parties and I’m sure we need to ensure that by arriving at a figure it will be able to sustain businesses in the country, it should be able to ensure that employees are also able to make ends meet, and most importantly, the economy will not be hit so hard that it will distort the microeconomic environment.”
“So that is the responsibility of the committee to ensure that all these parties are able to have some equilibrium in their expectations,” Alex Frimpong added.
