The Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) suspects that government has taken an entrenched position on its industrial action.
National President of CETAG, Prince Obeng Hemang tells Citi News, the Association was waiting to hold engagements with the National Labour Commission (NLC), today, Tuesday, November 22, 2022, only to receive a late invitation on Monday to rather engage with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations.
This according to the National President has put CETAG in a dilemma and a potentially contemptuous situation.
He told Citi News, they are yet to decide whether or not to attend the meeting with the Ministry.
“The technicality of we appearing before the Minister when we have been summoned before the NLC -as to whether we wouldn’t be in contempt for seeking to do that arbitration without the express permission of the Commission is something we are seeking advice from our counsel to see whether we are even supposed to proceed with going for that meeting.”
The teaching and non-teaching staff of Colleges of Education are on an industrial strike over the Government’s failure to implement their agreed 2022 conditions of service, as enumerated below:
1. Failure of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to make available to CETAG and CENTSAG a draft Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) which clearly captures what the parties mutually agreed on at the end of our negotiations for us to study before proceeding to sign off.
2. Unilateral variation of the effective date of CETAG’s 2021 Conditions of Service (CoS) by FWSC from 1st January 2022 to 1st January 2023 contrary to the Rules of Engagement for the negotiations.
3. Unilateral determination of April 2023 by the FWSC as effective date for placing First Degree Holders of CENTSAG on 17H on the SSSS, contrary to the Rules of Engagement for the negotiations.
4. Undue delay of the Ministry of Education to give approval for the payment of compensation for the all-year-round work to staff of the colleges of education.
5. Unfair retrospective deduction of office holding allowances paid to some members of CENTSAG and CETAG by the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD).
6. Deliberate variation of Fuel, Vehicle Maintenance and Off-Campus allowances of CETAG and CENTSAG members as compared to our counterparts in other analogous institutions in the face of rising cost of fuel prices in the country.