By William Yaw Owusu
Friday, 15 January 2016
Barring any hitch, organized
labour, led by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), is expected to embark on a
demonstration on Wednesday, January 20, in protest of the economic hardship in
the country.
DAILY GUIDE is also reliably informed that the TUC is likely to embark on a
sit-down strike after the demonstration to put pressure on the government to
reverse the dwindling economic fortunes of Ghanaian workers.
The recent increment in prices
of petroleum products, killer utility tariffs and the introduction of new taxes,
have incensed the Congress and other labour groups to embark on the demonstration
and the strike, a source said yesterday.
Labour is asking government to
among other things, withdraw the Energy Sector Levy which it believes had
resulted in an ‘astronomical’ and ‘unjustified’ increases in prices of
petroleum products at a time the world market price for crude is at an all-time
low.
The new Income Tax Act, 2015
(Act 896) was passed in September 2015 to replace an old one that was in
existence for about 15 years and it has made changes to the various tax types
while introducing new taxes on sectors that were initially outside the tax net.
They are particularly angry that
the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) could authorize 59.2%
increase in electricity tariff and 67.2% for water at a combined rate of 126.4%.
Immediately the PURC announced
the increments, the Steering Committee of the TUC described the action as
“insensitive and a stab in the back of the Ghanaian,” but utility providers
went ahead to implement them.
“But as has been the trend, for
purposes of political expediency, the PURC, acting on the promptings of the
government, failed to apply the automatic adjustment formula agreed on by all
stakeholders. Now the PURC and the government are calling on Ghanaians to foot
the bill that has been occasioned by a political decision,” the TUC expressed in
a statement issued late last year.
The statement expressed concern
about the impact of tariff increases on industry and businesses as these
sectors are already saddled with “too many constraints” and added that the
least the government could do was to compound their problems.
“Already, some industrial
entities are being over-charged, making them uncompetitive. The committee
reiterated the long-held view of the TUC that at this level of national
development some subsidies are needed for some groups of Ghanaians who cannot
afford electricity and water at the so-called realistic rate,” it advised.
“In addition, for the fourth
time this year government has increased the price of fuel cumulatively over 30
per cent. Given the noisy nature of utility tariffs and fuel prices, workers
and indeed, Ghanaians, are already reeling from the harsh economic conditions.
The committee and the TUC are proposing a dialogue, not only on tariffs but,
equally important, on the entire energy and water situation in the country,” it
said.
“Even more disgusting is that,
every round of tariff adjustments has been formulated on the premise that the
adjustments were needed to enable the utility companies to deliver quality and
efficient service. Thus far, such promises have turned to be a hoax, an
indication that there are other more important issues affecting the provision
of utilities than the supposedly low tariffs.”
According to the TUC, employment
creation had stagnated due to policies imposed on the government by the Breton
Wood Institutions particularly the International Monetary Fund (IMF); and many
workers continue to be laid off.
“The slow rate of employment
creation, particularly for the youth, constitutes the greatest policy challenge
facing Ghana today. A review of budget and economic policy statements for the
last several years shows that the employment challenge has not received the
needed attention in terms of resources committed to employment creation
programmes.
“Government’s net employment
freeze policy has worsened the situation. Even though health and education
sectors are officially exempted from this policy, we are aware that the
Ministry of Finance either deliberately delays or even refuses to approve
requests from the authorities in these two sectors to employ more education and
health professionals, even when additional personnel are obviously needed in
these two sectors,” the TUC said.
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