The National Labour Commission (NLC), has asked striking members of the College of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG), to reconsider their decision and return to the lecture halls.
CETAG began a nationwide strike on Thursday over the non-payment of year-long salary arrears owed them.
[contextly_sidebar id=”pZz9XOetLLrx0LHAeyubTxYEPbI1yLXC”]In an interview with Citi News however, the Executive Secretary of the National Labour Commission, Ofosu Asamoah, asked the lecturers to return to work whilst the commission strives to bring finality to their concerns.
“We plead with members of CETAG to reconsider their decision because we are working on it…,” Mr. Asamoah pleaded.
The General Secretary of CETAG, Prince Obeng-Himah, however told Citi News they won’t return to the lecture halls until their concerns are addressed.
“As far as the laws of the land are concerned, we are at the end of it and we believe that a strike is the last resort and that is what we will do. We are saying that we will stay home till the money is paid to our members.”
CETAG declared a nationwide strike in protest of unpaid salaries after a caution to government.
The teachers had threatened to down their tools if the government failed to pay salary arrears owed its members since October 2016.
CETAG had lamented that, despite a directive by the National Labour Commission (NLC), asking the Ministry of Finance to pay the arrears within two weeks, they are yet to be paid.
According to them, per the migration of the tertiary statuses of the Colleges of Education following the passage of the Colleges of Education Act 847 in 2012, the teachers were expected to be paid the salary difference between their previous salary levels and the new salaries from January to September 2016.
CETAG has said that, until the arrears are paid, they are withdrawing their services from the 38 colleges across the country.
A statement signed by the National Secretary of the Association, Prince Obeng-Himah, and cited by citifmonline.com, said: “On the basis of this development, leadership has decided that members should withdraw our services in all the thirty-eight public colleges of education till such a time that the arrears are fully paid to members, having duly consulted all Local and Zonal branches of the Association on the matter”
The statement directed all members to wear red bands as a mark of the protest.
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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana