The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has expressed support for President John Dramani Mahama’s promise to review the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS), describing the current framework as fraught with inequities.
During a media engagement on Wednesday, September 10, President Mahama acknowledged that the SSSS—introduced in 2010 to harmonise public sector salaries—has failed to achieve its intended goal of fairness. He assured that a comprehensive review would be undertaken to address the system’s shortcomings.
Reacting to the announcement, GNAT General Secretary, Thomas Musah, said the review was long overdue. “How can you go to a university, do the same programme, meaning they have the same value, and yet, on the spine, the moment they come out, one is placed on level 18 and the other on 16? How do you explain this? Since we are in the nation and working together, we need systems that reward people adequately and fairly,” he stated on Thursday, September 11.
The SSSS was originally designed to unify salaries across the public sector, with grades and steps determined by job evaluations conducted by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission. While the system helped reduce some disparities and minimise labour unrest, it also significantly increased the public wage bill and has faced repeated calls for reform from worker unions.
