NLA workers end industrial action after agreeing 12% salary increase for 2026

Management of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) and the Financial Business and Services Employees Union (FBSEU) have reached an agreement on salary and allowance adjustments for 2026, ending weeks of tension and industrial action at the Authority.

Under a Memorandum of Understanding signed by both sides, NLA workers will receive a 12% increase in their basic salaries, backdated to 1 January 2026. The agreement also raises the utility allowance from 8% to 10%.

Employees will be entitled to arrears resulting from both changes. Those payments will cover the period from January 2026 until the revised salary and allowance rates are reflected on the payroll.

The agreement follows a prolonged dispute over the appropriate salary increase for the year. Negotiations deadlocked after the union called for a 17% rise, while NLA Management maintained that the Authority’s financial position could support only a 12% increase.

The disagreement was intensified by concerns over the effect of statutory income tax adjustments on workers’ take-home pay. Employees argued that changes to the application of income tax had reduced their net salaries and therefore made a higher salary increase necessary.

Management said the tax changes followed concerns about how income tax was being applied to salaries and allowances. It also maintained that the Authority had already absorbed historical tax liabilities worth millions of cedis.

The dispute eventually led workers to take industrial action earlier this month. With negotiations unable to produce a settlement, the matter was referred to the National Labour Commission for arbitration.

Further intervention by the Minister for Labour, Jobs and Employment and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission helped create the conditions for Management and the union to return to negotiations.

The Memorandum of Understanding confirms that the 12% basic salary increase applies to workers covered by the agreement for the 2026 calendar year. It also states that the additional two percentage points on the utility allowance will take effect from 1 January 2026.

As part of measures to address concerns about workers’ net salaries, the parties agreed that an additional 1% will be considered during the 2027 salary negotiations, alongside any percentage increase in basic salaries.

Management and the union have also committed themselves to ensuring that all arrears are calculated and paid promptly. Both sides have pledged to comply with the terms of the agreement and to deal with any future disagreements through consultation and the appropriate statutory dispute-resolution procedures.

The settlement brings to a close a dispute that had raised concerns about staff welfare and working conditions at the NLA, while also threatening to disrupt the Authority’s operations.

However, the agreement is limited to the 2026 adjustments. Future salary negotiations will still be expected to take account of the NLA’s financial position, with the settlement specifically covering the basic salary increase and utility allowance for the current calendar year.