Civil Servants petition government

Cape Coast, April 1, GNA - The Central Region branch of the Civil and Local Government Staff Association of Ghana (CLOGSAG) on has petitioned the government to, within seven days, take steps to address the "numerous drawbacks" it has identified with the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) or it will advice itself.

In a petition presented to the Central Regional Minister, Mrs Ama Benyiwa-Doe on Tuesday on Tuesday by the Regional Chairman of CLOGSAG, Mr=

Theophilus Rebeiro, the association said all efforts to have the drawback= s addressed had proved futile and this was gradually undermining the peace that had characterized the labour front in the region. The petition said the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP) was among other= s to establish equity and enhance the salaries and other conditions of serv= ice of public servants but a cursory study of the structure as it stands now when implemented would leave members of CLOGSAG worse of than before. It said concerns raised by the association included the grading structure which has anomalies on the classification of jobs and "placements."

It said posts are being misconstrued as job grades in the service an= d entry point for various classes within the Civil and Local Government Services have been relatively graded lower in relation to other services. The petition said the government white paper was silent on how huge=

differentials in pay levels would be removed in order to establish equity= in salary levels within the Public Service. It called on the government to make explicit the time frame for the=

removal of salary differentials so that the first phase of implementation=

would be satisfactory to all since currently everything seemed "shrouded in secrecy".

The petition urged the Fair Wages and Salary Commission to also mak= e known the allowances to be paid to CLOGSAG members and their levels prior= to negotiations adding that their allowances were last reviewed in 2005. It expressed concern that even though it has barely three months t= o implement the SSS, it was yet to comply with paragraph 4.4 of the Governm= ent White paper which states that the FW&SC in the interim develop guidelines=

and standards to guide human resource managers in the various institution= s in all aspects of the implementation of the SSPP.

The petition urged government to respond to the "unpleasant irregularities" in the SSSS and urged the Minister to use his good office= s to ensure that the FW&SC was brought to order without delay. It appealed to the government to base the normal negotiations on salaries for 2010 on the Civil Service Ghana Universal Salary Structure a= nd other conditions of service and slowly implement the SSSS to ensure smoot= h implementation. Mrs Benyiwa-Doe received the petition and described the issues rais= ed as "pertinent" and said she shares the concerns raised adding that government had not relented in its efforts to address salary issues. She said she would forward it to the appropriate quarters for redre= ss.