Strike is still on — CETAG
The Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG), says until it sees the validation authorising the payment of salaries on how much members are to receive, it will not call off its strike.
It said although it knew the implication of its stance following a directive from the National Labour Commission (NLC) to call off the strike, it would want to see the validation confirming the government’s assurances to pay what was due members.
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The President of the CETAG, Mr Prince Obeng-Himah told the Daily Graphic that the decision to continue with the strike was taken by the national council of the association at its meeting held on Monday, January 17, 2022.
“Council has advised that we continue with the strike action irrespective of the NLC’s ruling so that we would wait for validation to see whether what the government has promised would really reflect.
“If the validation comes and the government has honoured its promise, then we would suspend the action and then go back to the classrooms to teach so that at the end of the month when we are finally paid, we can call off the strike,” he said.
Mr Obeng-Himah said after the consultation with the rank and file following a meeting with the NLC it was agreed that the strike should continue until members saw the validation.
Meeting
The CETAG last week said it would call off its industrial action only after meeting its rank and file to get their views on the assurance given by the government to pay members before making a pronouncement last Monday.
According to the CETAG, it wanted to come out with a decision that would reflect the collective interest of members.
It said although the government had said it would pay members what was due them at the end of the month, it had to discuss the issue with members before deciding whether or not to call off the strike.
Teachers of the 46 colleges of education declared a strike on Tuesday, January 4, 2021, over the failure of the government to implement the 2017-2020 conditions of service as agreed.
It said the CETAG and the government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on September 24, 2021 after reaching agreements on the 2017-2020 conditions of service for members of the association.
The said MoU stated that the effective date of implementation was January 2021, while the payment of associated arrears of nine months was to be paid in October, November and December 2021.
