The Minority Caucus on Employment, Labour Relations and Pensions in Parliament has expressed utter shock at the government's resolve to give public sector workers a pay rise of 9% in the year 2027 and 10% in 2028.

The caucus, in a statement, described this agreement as "nothing short of an insult".

"To offer Ghanaian public sector workers a meager 9% total remuneration increase for 2027 (8% base pay and 1% conditions of service) and 10% for 2028 is nothing short of an insult. This miserly adjustment is a direct assault on the dignity of workers, especially when juxtaposed with the compounding burden of utility tariff increases imposed on citizens across 2025 and 2026," the caucus established, adding that "while public sector workers are shackled with sub-inflationary salary increments, following 10% in 2025 and 9% in 2026, the cost of living has skyrocketed under relentless compounding adjustments administered by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC)".

"A side-by-side examination reveals the extreme economic injustice inflicted on Ghanaian households by contrasting suppressed wages with the adjustments in electricity, water, rent, transport, cooking gas and other regular household expenditure imposed since 2025," the Minority emphasised.

"Government demands that workers accept wage restraint for economic recovery, yet permits relentless increases in electricity and water tariffs, rent, transport fares and cooking gas, effectively picking the pockets of teachers, nurses, and civil servants from both ends," the caucus wondered as they expressed concerns over the details of the newly signed Multi-Year Public Service Remuneration Agreement for 2027 and 2028, finalized on October 28, 2026. 

They highlighted some economic pressures under this government that make this public workers' salary increment fruitless.

"Public transport fares went up by a further 8% from September 26, 2026, with some short-distance fares rising by 10% to 12%. Industry projections for the October 16, 2026 pricing window put the increase in the price of LPG at about 18.5%, to roughly GH⁠¢20.60 per kilogramme, double the 9% wage adjustment, for a commodity on which millions of households depend every day. 

"Mobile data, now essential for work, schooling and mobile money, went up by 15% from July 2025, while school fees, food and other recurrent household costs continue to climb. Each of these expenses is paid out of the same suppressed salary."

They argued that "while Ghanaian workers grapple with skyrocketing electricity bills, transport fares, and essential goods, the government hides behind optimistic inflation projections of 8% ± 2% to justify impoverishing public sector employees. Forcing a restrictive two-year framework under the guise of providing predictability for the transition of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to the Independent Public Emoluments Commission (IPEC) is a clear tactic to tie the hands of workers". 

The caucus slammed the leaders of Organized Labour for settling for this agreement.

"The Minority Caucus is equally compelled to ask whose interests were represented at the negotiating table. Only two weeks ago, leaders within Organised Labour publicly assured workers that they would argue strongly for a significant increase in 2027 base pay. They have instead put their signatures to 9%, and gone further to bind workers to a two-year framework that extends into 2028.

"This is not the first time. When the 9% increase for 2026 was agreed in November 2025, union leaders themselves described it as “woefully inadequate”, yet accepted it and then urged agitating workers to remain calm. Some unions declared that they were highly disappointed in both Organised Labour and Government, and complained that some labour bodies had been shut out of the negotiations altogether. A year on, the same leadership has delivered the same outcome, this time for two years at once. 

"The feedback reaching the Minority Caucus from rank-and-file members of the unions across the country is one of deep disappointment, not only with Government but with those who signed on their behalf. Workers are asking, and rightly so, whether their leaders went to the table to defend their wages or to deliver industrial peace for Government."

The Minority firmly held that "expecting workers to tighten their belts with a 9% pay deal while utility tariffs compound quarterly is economic wickedness that the Minority Caucus will fiercely resist". 

They therefore urged "the membership of Ghana's labour unions to demand a full account from their leadership of what was tabled, what was conceded, and why".

Among other demands from the Minority is for the government to hold an "immediate reconvening of the Public Services Joint Standing Negotiating Committee (PSJSNC) to establish a living wage that accounts for real compounding utility and commodity price inflation" as they further argued that "wage negotiations can no longer be conducted in a vacuum while utility regulators greenlight constant tariff increases that wipe out nominal pay adjustments".

They also called on the leadership of Organized Labour to "publish the proposals it tabled and explain to its members the basis on which it accepted a two-year deal opening at a mere 9%" and also implored the Mahama government "to cease using institutional transitions (such as the IPEC switch) as leverage to impose poverty wages on Ghanaian workers".

"The Minority Caucus stands in absolute solidarity with the rank and file of Organised Labour and the suffering workers of Ghana. We reject this insulting 9% pay deal in the face of relentless electricity tariff hikes. The Ghanaian worker deserves dignity, economic justice, and a fair share of national prosperity."