The ongoing strike by the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) shows no signs of abating, as the association remains resolute in its demand for the full implementation of the National Labour Commission (NLC) Arbitration Awards.
Despite the government’s attempts to end the strike through a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), CETAG members have vowed to continue their industrial action until their demands are fully met.
According to CETAG, the MoA does not address their concerns because:
- It should be on the letterhead of the relevant ministry.
- The document makes no mention of the arrears owed to CETAG.
- The document must specifically address the Arbitration Awards issued by the NLC. This is conspicuously absent from the document.
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CETAG describes the document as bogus and insufficient to address their grievances, vowing to reject it at any future council meeting.
In the MoA, the government urged CETAG to call off their strike and resume academic work by Monday, July 29th, 2024.
Also, as part of this agreement, the government instructed the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) to process the payment of the Frozen July salaries for the CETAG members.
However, these measures have failed to sway the association into calling off their industrial action.
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CETAG members insist they will not return to classrooms until they see tangible evidence of the Arbitration Awards being fully implemented.
The government, in the agreement, assured CETAG members that the first batch of the All-year-round allowance is currently being processed at the Ministry of Finance and will be paid before or on August 30th, 2024.
Despite this commitment, CETAG remains steadfast in its demand for concrete action.
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CETAG’s General Secretary, Mr. Thomas Ampomah, has revealed that the association remains unwavering in its commitment to its cause.
He has emphasized that the strike will continue until the Arbitration Awards are fully implemented, as the MoA does not provide a solution to their demands.
“Calling off the strike does not depend on the MoA signed with the government. The agreement simply gave timelines for the government to implement all the outstanding arbitral awards. In the MoA, the government also gave a timeline to pay our July salaries, but the salary is not our focus. The main thing is the implementation of the arbitral awards,” Ampomah stated.
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He added that since the government has agreed to pay all their arrears by the end of August, they are also ready to see all the agreed upon actions implemented by the end of August before they will call off their industrial action, which began on June 14th.