Time To Pass Laws Banning Strikes By All Public-Sector Employees in Ghana?

Author's note: This piece was written on 22/10/2013. It is being posted today, because I was unable to do so on the day. Please read on:


One hopes that the controversy generated by retired Brigadier-General Mensah-Nunoo's plain-speaking,  about the many strikes by public-sector employees, will lead to a national conversation  about strikes by public-sector employees,  and  low productivity levels in   Ghana's  public-sector.


No one who has  listened to what Brigadier-General Nunoo-Mensah actually said, will condemn him for saying what he did. Sadly, in a nation full of fence-sitting moral cowards, he is being condemned for saying something that needed to be said.


It is also  instructive that few in the Ghanaian media are making the point that he was  right to call for sacrifice on the part of those being allocated  such a huge proportion of the national cake.


That as much as 70 percent of total national revenue generated from taxes,  has to be used to pay public-sector employees -  some of whom  then refuse to work and embark on strike action  because they are dissatisfied with their remuneration - is a recipe for disaster.


How can we ever be a competitive nation globally in such circumstances?
No nation can grow if it has to spend as much as 70 percent of total tax revenue just  to pay public-sector employees. It is economic madness.

The question then is: in such straight-jacket economic circumstances, how do we  fund healthcare facilities; educational institutions; expand and modernise our infrastructure, and save for the future as well? Somehow we must downsize the public sector.


It is not surprising that having direct knowledge of  the negative  impact that  public-sector pay is having on the national economy, the plain-speaking Brigadier-General Nunoo-Mensah is incensed by  the endless strikes by public-sector employees -  who are apparently dissatisfied with the very  aggregated remuneration that is gradually destroying the nation's economy.


There are many patriotic one-nation Ghanaians who also feel irritated by the many strikes by public-sector employees - who it appears are  blithely unaware that paying about 500,000 Ghanaians  70 percent of total tax revenue is a real sacrifice on the part  the rest of the population.


On top of that painful reality  is the bald fact  that that massive recurrent expenditure will   gradually ruin Ghana's economy if nothing is done about getting value for it.


For  patriotic one-nation Ghanaians, it is understandable that Brigadier-General Mensah-Nunoo  should feel frustrated by the many strikes we are witnessing in the public sector.


The former Chief of Defence Staff  is a man who is  modest,  disciplined  and clearly loves his country - attributes that must make it pretty  hard for him to understand why the very people whose pay is threatening the ability of the government to fund development projects,  should not be satisfied with what they  are paid.


The truth of the matter, is that there is only one solution to the intolerable problem of striking public-sector employees.


Ghana must simply follow the example of  the 39 out of the 50 states in the United States of America, which ban strikes by all  public-sector employees.


Throughout Ghana's post-independence era, there  have been  dedicated and productive public-sector employees. However, there is no question that  productivity levels in the  public-sector of today,  leave much to be desired.


It is generally acknowledged by many independent-minded and discerning Ghanaians that if those working in the public sector,  took  the same attitude to work that one sees on display on  a daily basis in government  ministries, departments and agencies,  to the private sector, they would not last very long in their jobs.


The time has now come for our political class to come together to protect the national interest in this matter -  by passing new laws that ban strikes by all public-sector employees: and change the employment contracts of  public-sector employees to reflect those new laws.


If that is not done now, no matter which political party is in power, public-sector employees with low productivity levels,  and whom 70 percent of total tax revenue is used to compensate, will continue to hold our nation to ransom - and our nation's economy will steadily  deteriorate because after paying them there will never be  enough tax revenue left to invest in productive undertakings:  such as building power plants and roads, which are vital for  economic growth. A word to the wise...


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