Watchmen Ask For Single Spine

There is a growing agitation in the watchmen front of the Ghana Education Service (GES) following what the watchmen described as injustice and disrespect for their occupation by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC). While most workers in the public sector admit that their take-home pay now is far better than what they used to receive, since the inception of the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS), same cannot be said about the GES watchmen, whose take-home is so meagre that it cannot last them three days. The Finder�s interactions with several watchmen at some senior high schools (SHSs) in Ho, Sogakope, Ada East and Central districts, Ashaiman and Tema, and who are on the GES� payroll, revealed that some watchmen on the SSSS receive only GH�101.23 per month. Pegged on level 5.2 and at point two, The Finder chanced on some senior high schools� (SHSs) night watchmen�s pay slips dated September 28, 2012 in Ada, which indicated a net salary of GH�123.93. The watchmen, names withheld, according to the pay slip, have an annual salary of GH�2,067.53; YTD gross pay of GH�490.19; and a monthly gross pay of GH�172.29. Other GES watchmen of SHSs at Sogakope, according to their pay slips, each take GH�101.23 as their net salaries. Also dated September 28, 2012, each of the watchmen has GH�2,067.11 as their annual salary; GH�382.18 as their YTD gross pay; and GH�172.29 as their gross salary. In other SHSs in Ashaiman and Tema, some night watchmen take as little as GH�98.59 as their net salaries. A letter available to The Finder and dated July 6, 2012, with RSD/ADMIN/6/12 as reference number and signed by Dr Kwabena Duffuor, the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning (MoFEP), requested the chief executive officer (CEO) of the FWSC to provide a satisfactory working condition for the GES watchmen. The letter was copied to the secretary general of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the deputy Minister, chief director, the director (Ag), RSD, the director, ERDFD, all of MoFEP, as well as the GES director general, the national chairman of the Teachers and Workers� Union (TEWU), and representatives of GES watchmen. The watchmen told The Finder that they have not heard any good news from the FWSC since their request was forwarded to the commission through the MoFEP Minister. They expressed worry over the ill-treatment being meted out to them by the FWSC, and wondered why even under the SSSS, their lives have not improved to enable them cater for their families. They alleged that they were paid �on table tops� by the heads of the schools, and when they complained, the schools� heads referred to them as illiterates who cannot access their salaries at the bank. �We are hardly given allowances for our service delivery and as this unfair treatment continues, why will a watchman not connive with some thieves to loot a school?� a peeved watchman stated. The watchmen entreated the powers that be to swiftly heed to their cry by giving them befitting salaries, or they will form a united front to lay down their tools. �We are mobilising to hit the street to press home our demand for good salaries because we are suffering. Where is the Single Spine the government and FWSC promised us? Has somebody considered the risk in our job? We are hungry,� another worried watchman added.