Colleges of Education Teachers call off strike

The National Council of Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) has called off its over two months strike.

A statement issued by the association indicated that the decision to call off the strike was taken at an emergency virtual national council meeting held on Tuesday, August 20, 2024.

“In an emergency virtual National Council meeting of the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) today, Tuesday, 20th August 2024, Council members have voted unanimously to call off the ongoing strike action of the Association with immediate effect,” a part of the statement reads.

The statement, which was signed by the national president of CETAG, Prince Himah, and acting national secretary of CETAG, Thomas Ampomah, said the government has given an assurance that their issues would be resolved following a meeting between the government team and representatives of CETAG at the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations on Monday, August 19, 2024.

"The assurances were confirmed in a meeting between the Government Team and representatives of CETAG at the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR) on Monday, 19th August 2024, in which the Government team gave a roadmap with clear timelines for fulfilling the outstanding concerns of CETAG," it added.

The statement added that the team from the government outlined a roadmap with clear timelines for fulfilling the outstanding concerns of CETAG as follows:

1. The frozen July 2024 and August 2024 salaries shall be paid together at the end of August 2024.

2. The offline migration of the staff shall be completed at the end of August 2024.

3. The offline migration data shall be sent to all 46 colleges of education for verification by individual staff before processing by the Controller and Accountant General's Department (CAGD) in September 2024.

4. Payment after migration will reflect in October 2024 salaries, and the parties shall meet to agree on the payment plan for all arrears immediately.

5. The nomenclature to be used for migrating Senior Members of the Teaching staff shall be Assistant Lecturer, Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor, and Professor in line with the affiliate universities' Scheme of Service.

6. Compensation for all year-round work done in 2022 shall be paid by the end of August 2024.

7. All holders of researched Master's degrees shall be migrated as Assistant Lecturers.

The leadership of CETAG, however, noted that they would resume the strike at the end of October 2024 if the government failed to go by the roadmap agreed on by all parties.

They also commended Fred Oware, the vice president’s senior advisor, for his advocacy role in resolving the impasse.

CETAG also commended its members for following its direction throughout the impasse.

“The leadership is grateful to all members across the 46 Colleges of Education for remaining resolute for the past eight weeks to ensure that justice is served CETAG once and for all,” the statement said.

On June 14, 2024, the association embarked on a strike action following the government's failure to implement agreed-upon arbitral awards and service conditions set by the National Labour Commission.

Their demands included the payment of one month’s salary to each member for additional duties performed in 2022 and the application of agreed rates of allowances payable to public universities to deserving CETAG members.

Read the full statement below:

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