Adnan Adams Mohammed
The National Tripartite Committee (NTC) has officially commenced negotiations on the 2025 National Minimum Wage.
The committee, which includes representatives from thegovernment, employers, and organised labour associations, is tasked with determining the wage structure for the new financial year.
Following the conclusion of minimum wage negotiations, discussions will shift to the base pay for public sector salaries, which is a critical aspect of wage determination for the Government of Ghana’s workforce
The negotiations are taking place against the backdrop of delays in the wage-setting process, as the Public Financial Management (PFM) Act mandates that discussions should have been completed by the end of April 2024 to guide budget planning.
In light of this, the Government has urged all social partners – employers, organised labour, and government representatives – to accelerate discussions to ensure that outcomes arefinalized in time for inclusion in the 2025 Budget, which is expected in March.
Felix Kwakye Ofosu, MP, Minister of Government Communications has emphasized the need for timely negotiations, stressing that any further delay could impact fiscal planning and salary adjustments for workers.
With rising concerns over inflation, cost of living, and economic stability, stakeholders are expected to engage in rigorous discussions to reach a fair and sustainable wage agreement that balances the interests of both workers and employers.
The outcome of these negotiations will be crucial in shaping the financial well-being of Ghanaian workers in 2025.
Last year, Organised Labour secured a 23% increment in the base pay for the year 2024, after a two-day negotiation with the government.
Prior to this, Organized Labour had demanded a 75.1% base pay increase for 2024. They however subsequently reviewed it downwards to 60%, but government rejected it, proposing a 15% increment instead. Both parties later agreed to a 23% raise with an additional 2% scheduled for July to bring it to 25% in total.
Ghana’s National Tripartite Committee, the body in charge of setting the country’s minimum wage and overseeing public sector pay negotiations, has begun its deliberations for 2025.The committee, which balances the interests of government, employers, and organized labour, will meet under the leadership of Rashid Pelpuo, the newly approved Labour Minister, who awaits only his swearing-in to assume the role.
The committee’s 15 members—five each from the government, employers’ organizations, and organized labour—will face a challenging task.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC), the apex representative of labour, is expected to push for significant wage increases, while employers and the government grapple with economicconstraints. As of the beginning of February 2025, Ghana’s national daily minimum wage stands at 18.15 cedis, or
approximately 363 cedis per month, based on a 20-working-day calculation. This figure was set in 2024 after the committee agreed to a 22% increase, a move driven bysoaring inflation that peaked at 54% in December 2023—the highest rate in over two decades.
While the 2024 hike was substantial, it followed years of modest adjustments: 6% in 2021, 8% in 2022, and 9% in 2023. The sharp rise last year underscored the urgency of addressing the cost-of-living crisis, which has placed immense pressure on low-income workers.
Beyond the minimum wage, the committee’s decisions will have significant implications for public sector salaries. The Ministry of Finance has projected that total compensation for public sector employees will exceed 73 billion cedis in 2025, a figure that has drawn concern from the World Bank. The bank has repeatedly flagged Ghana’s public sector wage bill as unsustainable, warning that it puts strains on the country’s fiscal resources.
Despite these concerns, public sector workers are likely to demand higher base pay, arguing that their salaries have not kept pace with inflation.
The negotiations will be a delicate balancing act, as the government seeks to rein in spending while addressing the legitimate grievances of its workforce. Consequently, the 2025 negotiations come at a pivotal moment for Ghana’s economy. Inflation, though lower than its 2023 peak, remains a concern, particularly food inflation, and economic growth has been uneven.
However, labour consultant, and former Minister of Employment, Austin Gamey, has called for a paradigm shift in the determination of the national daily minimum wage. According to him, the use of inflation figures to determine how high the minimum daily wage is hiked is counterproductive and fails to address the problem of low salaries for workers.
He suggested that the tax threshold be used instead for such negotiations. “Now, in determining a national daily minimum wage, we have to have a paradigm shift and for the base pay as well. Because we cannot be using inflation if it’s 70% we go 70%, if it’s 100% we go 100% – it cannot work” he has asserted. “If you go that route, this country will be turned upside down in five minutes, I guarantee you”, he cautioned.
“What you can do is to take advantage of what the labour law says. That is the best. Maybe they are not fully conversant with it. I propose that we work together. But let me say that in determining these things, we have several ways of doing this including the tax thresholds. So it is for organized labour to ensure that a certain amount that people earn will not attract any form of tax at all. The barest minimum as it stands now is not enough.”
According to him, by doing away with the minimum daily wage-pegged-to-inflation-figures in favour of the tax threshold system, organized labour will be able to demand for what is appropriate.
“We must now go into the mystery of what goes into these things, unravel and unearth it and be able to deal with it properly, but I don’t think that we should be saying 50 to 50, 20 to 20. We must demand what is appropriate,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Gammey has urged organised labour to support government in managing the current economic downturn.
“And we must be very open to helping government, I maintain we must be very open to helping government to enable them to manage the situation and get us out of this economic situation. Because this is a very turbulent situation we find ourselves in already. We are simply in the IMF on a complete stretcher,” he said.
The Tripartite Committee’s decisions will not only shape the livelihoods of millions of workers but also influence the country’s fiscal health and social stability. As the committee deliberates, all eyes will be on whether it opts for another significant wage increase or prioritizes fiscal restraint.
Either way, its choices will have far-reaching consequences for Ghana’s economic trajectory in the year ahead.
