Strike: Striking CETAG members withdraw all services as government withholds salaries

 Leadership of the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) has called on members to withdraw all services following the decision by government to freeze their July salary.

These services, according to a statement sighted by JoyNews, include attendance of meetings and congregation ceremonies, provision of academic counselling as well as supervision of students in their halls of residence.

CETAG explained that the decision is in response to the Minister of Education's directive to Principals and the Controller and Accountant General not to validate the July 2024 salaries of teaching staff of the 46 public colleges of education due to their ongoing strike.

"Leadership has referred the illegal directive to freeze our July salaries to our lawyers to take the necessary action on it immediately," the statement dated July 23 added.

Meanwhile, the National Labour Commission (NLC) has backed the decision by Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to freeze the salaries of the teachers.

Speaking on JoyNews, Executive Secretary of the Commission, Ofosu Asamoah insisted that the ongoing strike is illegal.

"This is like two elephants fighting and I feel so sad about it. The court has injuncted the strike, yet they are continuing with the strike. With that, it makes the strike illegal because the court says 'this strike is not right, so stop'.

"When it becomes an illegal strike, the law provides that they should not be paid for the period they engaged in the illegal strike," he explained.

Currently, the strike has affected all 46 public colleges of education nationwide.

According to the leadership of CETAG, the strike is to demand better working conditions and remuneration packages.

CETAG's demands include the payment of one month’s salary to each member for additional duties performed in 2022, and the application of agreed rates of allowances payable to public universities to deserving CETAG members.

Due to this strike, the academic calendar has been interrupted and students are waiting anxiously for the resumption of classes.