Labor Unrest in Ghana

A larger and larger portion of the workforce in the state sector of the Ghanaian economy are going on strike. UTAG (University Teachers' Association of Ghana) which represents faculty at Ghana's universities is still on strike. We have now been on strike for a week. An earlier strike by primary and secondary school teachers has ended. But, yesterday doctors and pharmacists at state hospitals went on strike. They will no longer be delivering any outpatient service for the time being. Now it appears that court workers will also be going on strike as well. While the government has failed to pay arrears to public employees in education and medicine for 2012 it has at the same time given an ex-gratia payment of over 20 million dollars to 230 members of parliament, a figure over four times what it owes to university faculty. So it is not a lack of money that prevents the timely payment of arrears.