The Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) has condemned the government’s plans to withhold the salaries of its members for August.
This follows a letter from the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to the Controller and Accountant General on behalf of the Minister of Education requesting that the salaries of CETAG members should not be validated.
The letter also instructed the nonpayment of the allowances of the teaching staff of all 46 colleges of education in the country following weeks of strike action by CETAG members.
CETAG Vice President John Newton Kumi believes the action by the government undermines Ghana’s democracy since their strike action was legal.
“I think this is a slap on the face of democracy, and all meaning Ghanaians who believe in democratic dispensation must rise and speak against this kind of treatment. All along, CETAG has been law-abiding, and so our case was taken to the NLC by the employer.
“You know we’ve been fighting for two years now. On no occasion has CETAG taken the government to NLC. It is the government that often takes CETAG there, and we respond,” he said.
Mr Kumi added that the government, on various occasions, has refused to abide by the ruling of the National Labour Commission after discussions.
CETAG declared a strike on August 1, 2023, over the government’s failure to implement “negotiated” conditions of service for its members.
Meanwhile, the NLC has directed the government to immediately implement the agreed terms of the conditions of service with CETAG, as the prolonged strike continues to disrupt the education sector.
However, CETAG says it will not call off its strike until the terms of the conditions of service are implemented to the letter by the government.