The Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) has issued a notice of their intention to go on strike across the 46 public colleges of education in Ghana.
The strike is scheduled to commence on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, if the government fails to implement the negotiated allowances and compensate tutors based on the National Labour Commission’s (NLC) Arbitral Award Order by Monday, July 31, 2023.
The decision to embark on the strike action comes as a result of the government’s undue delay in negotiating new Conditions of Service (CoS) for the teachers.
Since August 2021, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), representing the employers, has intentionally prolonged the negotiations for over a year. This prompted the NLC to intervene and enforce compulsory arbitration following CETAG’s strike in January 2023.
The NLC subsequently issued an Arbitral Award Order on May 2, 2023, which granted CETAG members a new CoS effective from January 1, 2023.
Following the NLC’s Arbitral Award Order, the parties involved in the negotiation signed an agreement and forwarded it to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) through the FWSC on May 26 for approval and implementation.
However, to the surprise of CETAG, the MoF has failed to act on the FWSC’s letter and the NLC’s Arbitral Award Order, despite CETAG’s repeated requests for the immediate implementation of the negotiated agreement.
This has left CETAG members in a precarious situation, struggling to survive on outdated CoS in the current challenging economic conditions in Ghana.
In addition to the demands for the implementation of the negotiated allowances and compensation, CETAG has also raised concerns over the detrimental impact of the all-year-round academic calendar being implemented in public colleges of education.
They stress that even if all the monetary demands were met, their members would no longer continue with this calendar practice during the 2023/2024 academic year.
The sustained academic workload has taken a toll on tutors, and CETAG is advocating for the adoption of an in-out-out-in system. This system would allow all cohorts of students to remain in school and complete the academic year together, enabling tutors to take their inter-semester break.
Read Also: The Inimical Impact of the Double Track System on Colleges of Education
It is important to note that such a change would comply with the fact that there is no law mandating all tertiary students to be accommodated on campus.
CETAG’s leadership is calling on all stakeholders to acknowledge the pressing concerns raised by the association and take prompt action towards resolving the issues at hand. Failure to address these concerns may lead to a disruptive strike that will significantly impact the operation of colleges of education and the students they serve.