15% COLA ends in Dec, more hardship for Ghanaian workers from Jan. 2023

• 15% COLA ends Dec, which means more hardship for public sector workers in Jan. 2023.
• Prices will not come down, but your take-home pay will reduce.
• You must strategize to ensure you do not feel the hardship even more if the COLA stops coming after December 2023

Public sector workers and Ghanaian workers, in general, must begin to strategize and embrace themselves for more hardship from Jan. 2023.

For now, public sector workers are enjoying their final 15% COLA for December  2022. They may not fell the real impact and heat of the upward increasing cost of living resulting from the upward prices of general goods and services until January 2023 dawns on us all.

No matter the amount that your 15% COLA means in money terms, it has certainly given you some additional income to spend.

Although the 15% COLA was taxed, it has improved the financial position of workers, no matter the value in real money terms which was added to their normal income.

Per the agreement reached between organized labour and the government, the 15% COLA will end in December 2022. This means that effect January 2023, public sector workers will see their take-home pay taking a deep as Cost of Living Allowance will no longer be paid.

At the same time in January 2023, and going forward, today’s increased prices of goods and services would not come down to match your reduced income.

You can be sure that further projected increases in prices of goods and services are real. This will make the cost of goods and services even more expensive for ordinary Ghanaians.

The leadership of labour unions must begin to think of what they will be bargaining for come January 2023. This will help them stay ahead of the projected economic crisis.

The CEDI is expected to depreciate further. When the year is about to end, the exchange rate shoots up and the CEDI loses its value around October to December.

Once the rate goes up, it hardly comes down the following year. Organized labour may have to start thinking all over again ahead of the expiration of the 15% COLA.

One move will be to call on the government to extend the COLA for at least another 6 months and increase wages and salaries as well.

Ghanaians in general need to brace themselves for the tough times ahead. If you are a public sector worker, enjoy your COLA while it last but, also imagine January 2023 onward without the COLA. Today, we are all complaining even after the 15% COLA.

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As individuals, we need to also come out with more innovative strategies to ensure that, we earn better wages to meet the pressing demands, the increasing prices of goods and services, and the general weakness of the CEDI and its attendant negative implications on our nation.

• 15% COLA ends Dec, More hardship for public sector workers in Jan. 2023
• Prices will not come down, but your take-home pay will reduce.
• You must strategize to ensure you do not feel the hardship even more if the COLA stops coming after December 2023

The above three issues must start engaging your attention.