The National Labour Commission [NLC], has not been able to end the impasse between the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) and the government.
The NLC’s attempt at mediation was unable to compel CETAG to soften its stance as it prepares to enter week five of an indefinite strike.
[contextly_sidebar id=”ANwcYQ2vwZqYwgHneDxXWXhWWw2joek2″]CETAG’s demands over the Interim Market Premium have been described by the Education Ministry as unreasonable.
CETAG has been in negotiations with the government since 2012 over the payment of their Interim Market Premiums and Book and Research allowances.
Speaking to Citi News, National President of CETAG, Prince Obeng said his association was not compromising on its demands.
“We proposed that salaries are paid or restored by Monday and evidence of the restoration, by way of the salaries hitting the accounts of members be seen. If that is done we will de-freeze the frozen services. We are still in a situation where our frozen services remain frozen,” he said.
The meeting with the NLC came after the November salaries of the teachers have been frozen for not working for over three weeks.
CETAG complained that the directive by the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) to withhold their salaries was unlawful.
The Association’s strike has affected all the 46 public Colleges of Education in the country.
CETAG recently threatened to go to court to push for the closure of the colleges for the rest of this semester in line with the law governing the colleges, which states that colleges must be closed down and the semester annulled if academic work halts for more than three weeks.
It has had five engagements with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission since the colleges were upgraded in 2016.
These engagements, according to CETAG, have not yielded any favourable result, and their members continue to be unfairly remunerated.
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa & Philip Nii Lartey | citinesroom.com | Ghana