The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) has planned to strengthen its engagement with public sector institutions and trade unions by monitoring the implementation of labour agreements at workplaces to prevent disputes from escalating into strikes.

The Chief Executive Officer of the commission, Dr George Smith-Graham, says the proposed approach will move the commission beyond responding to grievances and negotiations to identifying challenges with agreed conditions of service before they trigger industrial action.

Speaking at a media training programme on the transition from FWSC to the proposed Independent Public Emoluments Commission (IPEC) and public sector pay reforms, Dr Smith-Graham said the commission has observed that its engagement with organised labour often intensified only when disputes arose.

He said this approach needed to change with the commission expected to take a more proactive role in assessing whether agreements reached with unions were being implemented.

“Negotiations would mean that you need to be engaging even the unions at their workplaces to find out whether the conditions of service are being implemented. It's not being implemented. What are the challenges?” he said.

Dr Smith-Graham also said the commission intends to review its approach as part of the transition to IPEC, allowing it to engage institutions more consistently instead of waiting for workers to embark on strikes before intervening.

According to him, about 80 percent of strikes are linked to conditions of service rather than basic salaries, making the implementation of agreements a critical area requiring attention.

“Currently, 80% of all strikes are on the issue of conditions of service. It is not on the basic salaries,” he said.

He explained that addressing disparities in conditions of service and harmonising allowances could help reduce the disputes that frequently disrupt public services.

“If we're able to deal with the issues of conditions of service and harmonise the conditions of service, possibly we can make sure that there are very few allowances that will come and create crisis,” he added.

IPEC Transition To Build On Existing System

Dr Smith-Graham further said the transition to IPEC would not involve completely dismantling the existing public sector compensation system but would instead focus on improving its operations.

He said the commission was carefully considering the implementation process to minimise possible agitations from workers who have become accustomed to the current arrangements.

“A change to IPEC doesn't mean complete dismantling of the previous system. It will be looking at the old system, and improving on the old system, and seeing how you can get the old system to work better,” he explained.

He added that lessons from previous reforms would guide the transition to ensure that changes to the public sector compensation are implemented carefully.

Dr Smith-Graham further explained that IPEC is intended to operate as an independent constitutional body with additional powers relating to salary determination.

He said the proposed commission would seek to make the process more conclusive, providing a clearer institutional framework for addressing public sector remuneration issues.

FWSC Prioritises Fairness In Public Sector Pay

The FWSC CEO reiterated that the objective of the reforms was to promote fairness and equity in compensation rather than guarantee massive salary increases.

“We have always said that the objective of our work is not increases in salaries. The objective in our work is to ensure that there is fairness in everything,” he said.

He explained that fairness would not mean paying every public sector worker the same salary but ensuring that compensation reflects the responsibilities and entitlements of different categories of workers.

Dr Smith-Graham continued that improved monitoring of agreements, more consistent engagement with organised labour and reforms to the compensation system would be important in addressing workplace concerns and reducing industrial disputes.

The proposed transition to IPEC is expected to reshape the institutional framework for managing public sector emoluments with the commission intended to operate independently and exercise additional powers in determining compensation.