The Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) has threatened to embark on a strike starting January 2025, unless the government resolves a series of unmet obligations.
The decision, according to the association is following repeated breaches of agreements signed earlier in 2024, leaving the union with no choice but to take further industrial action.
In a statement released on Monday, December 23, CETAG outlined the issues relating to their threat to strike.
It explained that the National Council of the association held an emergency meeting on December 20, where they expressed deep concern over the government’s failure to implement a compulsory arbitration award issued by the National Labour Commission (NLC) in May 2023.
CETAG highlighted several key grievances, including the government’s failure to complete the migration of teaching staff to affiliate universities’ pay structures, delayed appointments for staff, and non-payment of compensation for extra work done in 2022.
The union also pointed to the government’s neglect of agreed-upon payments, such as the top-up of book and research allowances for staff at Akrokerri College of Education.
CETAG's press statement:
At an Emergency National Council meeting of the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) held on Friday, 20th December 2024, the Council observed with grave concern the employer’s continuous violation of signed agreements and roadmaps on the outstanding compulsory arbitration award issued by the National Labour Commission (NLC) on 2nd May, 2023.
In spite of the Union’s good faith in calling off our strike action on 20th August 2024 based on the appeals by the Vice President’s Office, Minister for Employment, Labour Relations and Pensions, and Minister of Education as well as the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education, the Government has blatantly breached again the agreement reached with CETAG on 19th August 2024.
As a result of these deliberate and incessant violations of signed agreements and roadmaps by the Government since 2nd May, 2023, we wish to once again serve notice of our intention to resort to another indefinite strike action per section 159 of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651).
The Union was reluctant to take this decision and thus resorted to several engagements with the key stakeholders including MELRP, MoE, GTEC, FWSC, PRINCOF and CAGD, to lay the matter to rest. When the engagements proved futile, a press release was subsequently issued on Monday, December 16, 2024 but all these efforts have not resulted in any concrete outcome.
The current decision of the National Council to resort to another strike action is based on the following grounds:
1. Failure on the part of the employer, within a period of 20 months, to complete the migration of the colleges of education teaching staff onto the affiliate universities’ pay structure.
2. The prolonged delays of Government in issuing the new appointment letters based on the staff audit report and the affiliate universities’ scheme of service to staffs to enable the migration to be effected by the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) in October 2024 as agreed.
3. Government’s undue delay in paying the remaining forty-two (42) Colleges the one-month basic salary as compensation for all-year-round work done by CETAG members in 2022 as ordered by the NLC on 2nd May, 2023.
4. The non-payment of top-up of Book and research allowance for 2023 to staff of Akrokerri College of Education.
In order not to further distract the academic calendar and for effective and quality teacher education, CETAG urges all stakeholders in teacher education including the Ministry of Education (MoE), Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Principals of Colleges of Education (PRINCOF), Affiliate Universities, Teacher Trainees Association of Ghana (TTAG), and the Education Sub-Committee of the Transition Teams from both outgoing and incoming administrations to get involved to ensure the smooth migration of colleges of education teaching staff onto the affiliate universities pay structure.
Conclusively, National Council wishes to reiterate that the Union shall no longer countenance further excuses and wilful violation of the agreement signed between the parties by the Government. National Council shall proceed to declare another indefinite strike action per section 159 of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651) if the outstanding concerns are not addressed by Friday, 31st December 2024.
Thank you.