The Colleges of Education Teachers Association Ghana (CETAG) has announced that an emergency virtual National Council meeting was held today, Tuesday, 20th August 2024, to address the ongoing strike action.
CETAG stated that following the meeting, Council members voted unanimously to call off the strike with immediate effect, bringing an end to the industrial action.
CETAG indicated that the decision to call off the strike followed a meeting with the Office of the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana on 15th August 2024 at the Jubilee House, where assurance was given to guarantee the resolution of the impasse.
“The assurances were confirmed in a meeting between the Government Team and representatives of CETAG at the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations (MELR) on Monday, 19th August 2024 in which the Government team gave a roadmap with clear timelines for fulfilling the outstanding concerns CETAG”.
The Colleges of Education Teachers Association Ghana (CETAG)
However, CETAG’s leadership cautioned that the strike will resume at the end of October 2024 if the Employer does not adhere to the agreed-upon roadmap outlined during the meeting.
CETAG further demanded the concurrent payment of the frozen July and August 2024 salaries, emphasizing that the payment must be made by August 31, 2024, to rectify the delayed compensation.
The Association emphasized that the offline migration of staff must be fully completed by August 31, 2024.
CETAG specified that the offline migration data must be sent to all 46 colleges of education for individual staff verification.
This verification process must be completed before the data is processed by the Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD) in September 2024.
The Association emphasized that all payments made after the migration process will be fully reflected in the October 2024 salary payments.
Additionally, CETAG noted that the parties are required to convene an urgent meeting to finalize a comprehensive payment plan for all outstanding arrears.
CETAG’s Designated Nomenclature For Teaching Staff
Furthermore, CETAG stipulated that the designated nomenclature for migrating Senior Members of the Teaching staff shall be as follows: Assistant Lecturer, Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor, and Professor.
CETAG emphasized that the migration process must be strictly aligned with the affiliate universities’ approved Scheme of Service.
“That, 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”.
The Colleges of Education Teachers Association Ghana (CETAG)
On June 14, CETAG commenced a strike in protest of the government’s inaction on implementing agreed-upon arbitral awards and addressing the long-standing concerns regarding its members’ conditions of service.
Prior to the strike, CETAG had raised concerns in a statement released on June 3, highlighting that research allowances for its members were overdue.
The Association accused the government of blatantly ignoring a directive from the National Labor Commission (NLC) to settle these payments.
CETAG asserted that the NLC and the Ministry of Education have unlawfully withheld entitlements from its members, contravening the Compulsory Arbitration Award of May 2, 2023, and violating the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, which mandates state institutions to uphold the rule of law.
CETAG further expressed dismay that theKhan Hints at EU Return, Starmer Cautioned national president’s salary has been unjustly frozen since August 2023, and additionally, several members have been withheld payment without any valid reason or explanation.
The Teacher Trainees Association of Ghana (TTAG) has expressed relief and acceptance following the strike’s cancellation, which now allows for the continuation of academic work.
The TTAG pointed out that final-year students will nonetheless face an additional financial burden due to the extended academic year, as they will be required to pay for a second term’s worth of rent and food expenses.
The Government has given assurances that measures will be put in place to minimize the impact on students, ensuring they do not suffer significant financial losses.
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