CETAG calls off industrial action

The National Council members of the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) have voted unanimously to call off its industrial action with immediate effect.

The decision to call off the strike follows CETAG's meeting with the Office of the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, on August 15, 2024, at the Jubilee House and the assurance given to stand surety for the resolution of the impasse.

“The assurances were confirmed in a meeting between the government’s team and representatives of CETAG at the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR) on Monday, August 19, 2024, in which the government’s team gave a roadmap with clear timelines for fulfilling the outstanding concerns CETAG,” a statement jointly signed by the President, Prince Obeng-Himah and Secretary, Thomas Ampomah, said.

Caution

In the statement, CETAG’s leadership, however, reiterated that the strike action shall resume at the end of October 2024, if the employer fails to follow the roadmap as stated.

Also, it demanded that the frozen July 2024 and August 2024 salaries be paid together at the end of August 2024, the offline migration of the staff be completed at the end of August 2024 and that “the offline migration data shall be sent to all 46 colleges of education for verification by individual staff before processing by Controller and Accountant General's Department (CAGD) in September 2024”.

It added that the payment after migration will reflect in the October 2024 salaries and that, the parties shall meet to agree on the payment plan for all arrears immediately and that the nomenclature to be used for migrating Senior Members of the teaching staff be Assistant Lecturer, Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor, and Professor in line with the affiliate universities' Scheme of Service.

Moreover, it said compensation for all-year-round work done in 2022 shall be paid by the end of August 2024 and that all holders of researched Master's degrees shall be migrated as Assistant Lecturers.

Gratitude

“The National Council of the association wants to extend its gratitude to the Vice-President's Senior Advisor, Fred Oware, for his advocacy role in resolving the impasse which has seen CETAG on strike for over eight weeks.

“Also, we wish to appreciate the Hon. Ministers for Employment and Labour Relations, Education, Finance and the Chief Executive of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), PRINCOF, and the media for showing strong commitments to fulfil all the outstanding concerns of members with a clear roadmap.

“Finally, leadership is grateful to all members across the 46 colleges of education for remaining resolute for the past eight weeks to ensure that justice is served CETAG once and for all,” it said.

Strike action

CETAG began its strike on June 14, 2024, to back home demands for better conditions of service.

It embarked on the strike to register its displeasure over the government’s delay in implementing the National Labour Commission’s (NLC) Arbitral Award Orders and negotiated service conditions.