The Public Services Joint Standing Negotiation Committee (PSJSNC) will next week meet to start negotiations on the 2014 base pay for public sector workers on the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS).

Mr George Smith Graham, Chief Executive Officer of the Fair Wages and Salary Commission (FWSC), who announced this said even though the National Tripartite Committee was yet to fix the minimum wage, negotiations for new base pay for public sector workers would go ahead.

Arrangements were being made to get the leadership of the Ghana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) to fix a day early next week for the meeting.

Mr Graham was speaking at the annual national executive council meeting of the Public Services Workers Union (PSWU) in Kumasi.

He also hinted of a roundtable conference on public sector productivity, to generate expert discussions and ideas on how to improve the sector’s performance, and said that would be followed by a national forum.

Ghana, he said, could not pride itself as middle income country without a strong productivity base, and this was why productivity issues must be made a top national agenda.

He rejected suggestions by some people that the Single Spine Salary Policy (SSSP) should be suspended, and said that was inconsistent with the position of government.

Mr Graham again flatly denied that public sector workers were going to be retrenched following the implementation of the SSSP, and said that must be ignored.

He appealed to organized labour to work hard to ensure that the public service was properly structured to promote efficiency and increased production.

They should demonstrate ingenuity and become innovative to mobilize adequate revenue for national development.

Mr Richard Amparbeng, General Secretary of PSWU, said there was the need for open and frank discussions on public sector productivity.