By Benjamin A. Commey
Accra, July 28, GNA – The Colleges of Education Teachers Association, Ghana (CETAG) has stated its intention to embark on an indefinite strike effective August 1, 2023, over government’s failure to implement “negotiated” conditions of service for its members.
The Association stated this in a statement jointly signed by Mr Prince Obeng-Himah, National President and Mr Thomas Amponsah, Acting National Secretary, and obtained by the Ghana News Agency, in Accra.
In 2021, CETAG and the Government through the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) engaged in protracted negotiations over a new condition of service for members of CETAG.
This compelled the National Labour Commission (NLC) to intervene with a Compulsory Arbitration following CETAG’s strike in January 2023.
At the end of the Compulsory Arbitration, the NLC issued an Arbitral Award Order on May 2, 2023, granting CETAG members a new condition of service with effect from January 1, 2023.
Following the NLC’s Compulsory Arbitral Award, the parties proceeded to sign off the negotiation agreement, which had been communicated to the Ministry of Finance by FWSC since May 26, 2023, for approval and implementation, the Association indicated.
However, CETAG claimed that the MoF had refused to act on the FWSC’s letter together with the NLC’s Arbitral Orders despite letters written to the Ministry requesting the immediate implementation of the negotiated agreement, saying CETAG members “cannot continue to survive on expired 2020 conditions of service in this biting economy of Ghana”.
The Association warned that, it would, therefore, withdraw services from all 46 colleges of education if government failed to honour the terms of negotiations agreed upon by Monday, July 31, 2023.
“The leadership of the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) wishes to serve notice of our intention to withdraw our services across the 46 public colleges of education effective Tuesday, 1 August2023 if by Monday31″ July 2023, the Government has not implemented our negotiated allowances together with the one-off payment of one month’s basic salary based on CETAG’s salary grade as compensation for additional duty performed in 2022 payable to tutors per the NLC’s Arbitral Award Order (copy attached) given on May 2, 2023,” it said.
CETAG also indicated that it would no longer continue with the “killer all-year-round” academic calendar being implemented in the public colleges of education, effective the 2023/24 academic year.
“The practice is softly killing the tutors. Leadership is, therefore, calling on stakeholders to adopt the in-out-out-in system to let all cohorts of students remain in school and complete the academic year together to enable tutors to take their inter-semester break.
“After all, no law says all tertiary students should be accommodated on campus,” it said.
GNA