Some members of the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) have expressed their readiness to challenge the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) in court over its directive to suspend their July salaries.
This directive, issued to the Controller and Accountant General’s Department, has been met with staunch opposition from CETAG members, who deem it unjust and legally unfounded.
The controversy arose when GTEC instructed the Accountant General’s Department to withhold the salaries of all teaching staff at the Colleges of Education, except for College Principals, for July 2024.
This directive, communicated in a letter dated Monday, July 22, 2024, was issued on behalf of the Minister of Education due to CETAG’s refusal to call off what GTEC claims is an illegal strike initiated in June 2024.
According to GTEC’s letter, “At the instance of the Minister of Education on the non-adherence of CETAG members to call off an illegal strike from June 2024, you are by this letter requested to stop the salaries of all teaching staff of the Colleges of Education (CETAG) except for the College Principals for July 2024.”
The letter further instructed College Principals not to validate the July 2024 salaries of all teaching staff.
In response, James Korbla Kukubor, Upper East Regional Chairman of CETAG at the Saint John Bosco College of Education, addressed the issue on A1 Radio.
Mr. Kukubor emphasized that CETAG members are prepared to contest GTEC’s directive in court, asserting that their strike is a lawful action to demand what is rightfully theirs.
He likened GTEC’s directive to “a debtor asking a Police Officer to arrest someone he is owing simply because the person is following him for his money to be paid.”
He refuted GTEC’s claim that the strike is illegal, pointing out that the Labour Commission has never declared their strike action unlawful, thus affirming its legality.
CETAG members, who began their strike action in June this year, believe that GTEC’s directive to withhold their salaries is an unwarranted attempt to undermine their legitimate industrial action.
They maintained that their strike was a lawful means to press for the fulfillment of their demands, which included the payment of outstanding allowances and better working conditions.
Source: A1Radioonline.Com|101.1MHz|Moses Apiah|Bolgatanga|
