[Notice of Strike]
The leadership of the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) hereby notifies of the union’s intention to embark on an industrial action to protect our economic rights under article 24 (1) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and section 10 (a&b) of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651).
The reasons for the union’s decision to resort to strike are as follows:
1. As our Employer, you have willfully failed to comply with the National Labour Commission’s (NLC) Compulsory Arbitration Award issued on 2nd May 2023, in breach of section 167 (283) and section 64 (4) of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651).
2. The NLC is reluctant to trigger section 172 of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651) to compel our Employer to comply with the 2nd May, 2023, and 31st August 2023 orders and directives, even though the union complied with the Commission's directive to call off our strike in August 2023. Additionally, the union has written several letters to the Commission since November 2023 requesting the enforcement of the Compulsory Arbitration Awards as specified in section 172 of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), which the Commission has refused to take action on to date.
3. NLC and FWSC have denied CETAG members what is due based on the Compulsory Arbitration Award issued on 2nd May 2023, in violation of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, which obligates all state institutions to respect the rule of law.
4. FWSC and the Ministry of Education have deliberately refused to pay deserving CETAG members a top-up of research allowance as arrears arising from the 2021 Conditions of Service (CoS) Agreement signed with Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), approved by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) in July 2023, with an ending date of 31st December 2024.
5. The Conference of Principals of Colleges of Education (PRINCOF) and the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) have unilaterally varied our existing office-holding positions and allowances in violation of our 2023 Conditions of Service (CoS) Agreement signed with FWSC, approved by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) in July 2023, with an ending date of 31st December 2024.
In conclusion, we state unequivocally that the union shall no longer tolerate any further violations of our rights as workers under the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. We, therefore, implore FWSC, as the constitutional body mandated to negotiate on behalf of the Government, to uphold the Constitution of Ghana and the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651).
The union affirms our decision to proceed on strike and not call off our action until all outstanding Compulsory Arbitration Awards and related concerns raised in this notice are resolved through payments to our members.