COPP-TEWU Meeting ends in a stalemate

Accra, Oct. 27, GNA - A meeting convened by the Conference of Polytechnics Principals (COPP) to continue negotiations with the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) on Tuesday on the payment of 15 per cent salary increases to its members ended in a deadlock.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Accra after the meeting Mr Daniel Ayim Antwi, General Secretary of TEWU, said the COPP reported to the meeting that government has decided to pay the 15 per cent, effective from April this year instead of COPP's official positron of July this year.

Furthermore, he said the government expected that the polytechnics should find money to pay the arrears in respect of March 2004 as demanded by TEWU.

In this regard, Mr Antwi said, COPP representatives stated at the meeting that it would be impossible for the polytechnics to find money to pay the increases since it had no internal system for generating funds.

He said COPP also said it had not got any mandate from government to negotiate with TEWU on its proposal for the review of conditions of service

submitted since early this year. Mr Antwi said as a result the union decided to discontinue the meeting because it had became obvious that COPP could not fulfil the union's expectation.

"We are asking the COPP to pursue the necessary mandate to reconvene the Standing Joint Negotiation Meeting without delay", he added. 27 Oct. 04