President Akufo-Addo has thanked organized labour for reaching the 15 percent Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).
Speaking at the delegates conference of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) at the Accra Sports Stadium on Saturday, July 16, he assured workers that the NPP government has and will continue to have their interests at heart.
He recounted that during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, no single worker in the public sector was laid off. There were also no salary cuts.
READ ALSO: Gov’t, Organised Labour agree on 15% COLA
That is the mark of commitment the government has for workers, he added.
“I want to say big thanks to organized labour for reaching this agreement. Because it then demonstrates also the concerns our party has, always had and will continue to have for the concerns of the workers and the people of Ghana.
“During the pandemic, at the height of the pandemic that people had to stay at home, no single worker in the public sector was dismissed, no salary cuts was visited on the workers in the public sector.
“On the contrary, not only were they paid in full, they also had their jobs protected, we went further to make it possible to organize free water free electricity, for the ordinary people of our country. That is the measure of the concern of the New Patriotic Party for working people in our country,” he said.
Government and Organised Labour on Thursday July 14 reached a consensus over the cost of living allowance workers have been demanding since May.
The two parties and their various representatives agreed on a 15 percent COLA at a crunch meeting held on Thursday.
Organised Labour had initially demanded a 20 per cent allowance, for which some worker unions proceeded on strike.
But after deliberations, the workers have agreed to accept 15 percent as COLA for the next few months.