Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) and the Colleges of Education Non-Teaching Staff Association of Ghana(CENTSAG) have threatened to strike if the government does not solve their welfare issues in five days.
A joint communique by the leadership of CETAG and CENTSAG, dated November 6, 2022, expressed their displeasure over the government’s handling of issues affecting the welfare of members over the years.
The issues, according to them, are non-finalisation of Conditions of Service (CoS) negotiations, unilateral determination of April 2023 by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) as the effective date for placing First Degree Holders of CENTSAG on 17H on the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) and undue delay by the Ministry of Education in responding to their request for payment of compensation for all-year-round work to both teaching and non-teaching staff.
Others are the deliberate variation of fuel, maintenance and off-campus allowance of members compared to their counterparts in other institutions and the unfair retrospective deductions of office holding allowances paid to some members of CETAG and CENTSAG.
They have therefore given the government “five crucial working days” to resolve these issues, or they will lay their tools.
“Finally, we want to state unequivocally that by Friday, November 11 2022, if our demands have not been met, we shall reactivate our indefinite strike actions, which we suspended on January 24 and April 14, 2022, respectively.”
Below is a joint statement issued by the group
The threat to lay down their tools come in the wake of ongoing strike action by other groups in the education sector.
The associations believe that Dr Nkansah is a banker, not a professional teacher. Hence government should appoint another person with an education background.
They have resolved to continue their ongoing industrial action after an inconclusive meeting with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations on Friday, November 4.
The unions are the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT).
They also cited other reasons for the strike, such as the failure of the Ministry of Education to promote qualified teachers in the profession, the failure to harness the payment of car or vehicle maintenance allowance to teachers, and the reluctance to deliver laptops for teachers to facilitate their teaching in the various schools.
According to the unions, the Ministry of Finance had indicated that their allowances were paid in 2018, but they have not received any allowances yet.