A high-level ministerial meeting have successfully resolved the salary deadlock at the National Lottery Authority (NLA), establishing a consensus on a 12% salary increase for staff.
The breakthrough was achieved during a meeting convened with key national stakeholders, including Hon. Dr. Abdul Rashid Pelpuo, the Minister for Labour, Jobs and Employment Relations, Dr. George Smith Graham, the Chief Executive Officer of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), Mr. Frederick Amissah, the NLA Board Chairman, Mr. Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the Director-General of the NLA, and executives of the NLA Local Union, led by the national executives of the Financial, Business and Services Employees Union (FBSEU).
Following this collaborative meeting, a consensus was reached to resolve all outstanding issues. A major breakthrough was that the FWSC agreed to accept management’s initial proposal of a 12% salary increase. This was a significant step forward from the FWSC’s previous guidance, which had recommended a lower 8% salary cap based on the NLA’s financial capacity.
The dispute initially escalated into active industrial action after the Local Union served a formal notice on Friday, 21 August. This notice led to a sit-down strike and demonstration starting on Monday, 24 August.
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The strike was sparked by a reduction in staff net salaries, which occurred because the NLA was legally required to apply correct tax rates going forward following a Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) audit that uncovered a six-year backlog (2016–2022) of unpaid taxes. Although NLA management absorbed the entire five-million-Ghana-cedi tax backlog at no cost to the workforce, the implementation of correct taxes going forward prompted the Union to demand a 17% salary increase. Since the NLA’s board could only budget for a 12% increase, negotiations reached a deadlock.
When the strike commenced on Monday, 24 August, NLA management immediately issued a public call to action, urging the Local Union and staff to call off their sit-down strike and return to the negotiation table.
Now, with the new 12% consensus officially reached during the high-level meeting, management has formally called on all staff members to remain calm and return to their duties while the remaining gaps created by the income tax adjustments are addressed in a spirit of industrial harmony.
