The Public Services Joint Standing Negotiating Committee (PSJSNC) would soon meet to negotiate the Categories Two and Three Allowances on the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) for implementation this year.

Mr Joseph Gadikor, the Director of Finance and Administration of Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), said the negotiation process would begin after the National Tripartite Committee (NTC) had concluded negotiations.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency, in an interview in Accra, Mr Gadikor said NTC negotiation was expected to commence on June 19, for the determination of the 2016 Daily Minimum Wage.

The PSJSNCC comprise Government, represented by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, and Organised Labour, Associations and Institutions.

Mr Gadikor said the technical sub-committee, tasked to work on the allowances, had presented its report to the PSJSNCC, as well as the Ministry of Finance, to consider the cost implications for budgeting.

In accepting the 13 per cent salary increment for public sector workers on the 2015 SSS, Mr Kofi Asamoah, General-Secretary of the Ghana Trades Union Congress, said Organised Labour made it a condition that Government, should begin to pay the allowances, which had been frozen since the implementation of the SSSS in 2010.

Several labour unions, including the Ghana National Association of Teachers and the National Association of Graduate Teachers, have over the years staged series of protests for the payment of the allowances.

Mr Asamoah told the GNA that since arrears were not paid for allowances, organised labour would push for the speedy implementation of the allowances now that the necessary work had been done.

The Category Two Allowances include Acting Allowance; Additional Duty Allowance; Payment for Work Done Outside Standard Working Hours; Transfer Allowances; Travelling Expense Allowances; Tools Allowances and Inducement/Cost of Living Allowances.

The Category Three Allowances also include Disable Guide Allowance; Vehicle Maintenance Allowance; Local and Foreign Trip Allowances; Uniform/Clothing Allowance; Medical subsidy and Funeral Grant.

Many public sector workers and their unions have complained about the high cost of living, amidst low income levels but the government has said its wage bill is too high, thus undermining the prudent management of the economy.