Colleges of Education strike: CETAG members demand implementation of NLC Arbitral awards to call off strike
Dr Dominic Owusu (in suit) with some other members of the group
Members of the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) have made a passionate call on the Ministry of Education, Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) and the government at large to pay attention to their plights or the ongoing strike in the colleges of education will continue.
The members mentioned this in a press conference held in Ho on Thursday, August 15 2024. Dr Dominic Owusu (PhD) was the convenor at the press engagement.
According to him, after several meetings held with the necessary agencies between 2021 and 2022, the National Labour Commission (NLC) on May 2 2023 ruled that CETAG members should be arbitrarily awarded.
The awards are payment of salary arrears, implementation of conditions of service to commence on January 1 2023, deserving members should be paid per the rates of public university payment and completed audit exercise on the staff of colleges of education should commence on January 1, 2023.
However, Dominic, said the government has failed to adhere to NLC's ruling after the ruling.
"Three months after the arbitral awards were issued, CETAG embarked on an industrial strike to compel the government to implement the NLC arbitral awards for CETAG. The government signed a MoU with CETAG and pleaded to be given two months to implement the NLC arbitral awards for CETAG. After our strike was called off amidst salary freeze the government agencies went to sleep on their responsibility towards CETAG" he noted.
He described the situation as disrespect to the teaching profession in colleges of education.
Dominic added that CETAG members are disappointed in the education minister, Dr Osei Yaw Adutwum for not showing interest in their concerns.
"We want to emphatically state that the minister of education's disrespect, nonchalant, unconcerned attitude towards CETAG had led to mistrust for him hence our unwillingness to take him by his words again unless we see evidential proof of the implementation 9f the NLC arbitral awards before we take steps to call off this strike," he said
The members also alleged that "CETAG has 20 months arrears payment to be collected from the implementation of the NLC arbitral awards. We want to unequivocally state that we shall collect every pesawas owed to us from the NLC arbitral awards".
CETAG is currently on strike. The situation has since put teaching and other academic activities at a snail's pace throughout the country in the various colleges of education.
At the press conference, the members outlined their demands which included, full implementation of the staff audit report in line with NLC arbitral awards, rejection of migration that may fall short of the staff audit report, full payment of salary arrears, payment for all round year compensation for work done in 2022, payment of 2023 and 2024 book and research allowance and top-up payment of books and research allowance.
According to them, they shall not take unfriendly action against the government but they shall wait on the government for swift action in favour of their demands.
Dominic Owusu added that should the government fail to pay attention to them, the strike will not end.
