Executive Secretary of the National Labour Commission, Ofosu Asamoah, has urged the government to take disciplinary action against individuals affiliated with the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) for participating in an illegal strike.
Since August 1, members of CETAG from all 46 training colleges have been engaged in a strike, citing the government’s non-compliance with the National Labour Commission’s Arbitral Award and the negotiated terms of service established since May 2, 2023.
Despite multiple notifications conveyed to the Ministry of Finance, the mutually agreed-upon negotiations have not been put into effect, resulting in an ongoing deadlock.
In an interview on Eyewitness News, Mr Asamoah opined that CETAG members must be penalized for embarking on illegal strikes, and lambasted them for failing to rescind their decision when they were advised to do so.
“The Commission has told you, don’t go, and you went, and it says stop what you are doing, and you say you won’t. Defying the orders of the Commission is an unlawful act. The Commission will have to resort to the court to compel them to go back to the classrooms if they still proceed on the strike. And then their employers will also have the right to punish them for proceeding with this illegal strike. Two wrongs do not make a right. The fact that the employer was in default doesn’t mean that you should also do that,” he told sit-in host of Eyewitness News, Selorm Adonoo.
The Deputy Minister of Education in Charge of Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Gifty Twum Ampofo, has made a passionate appeal to CETAG to reconsider their ongoing strike action and engage in meaningful negotiations with the government to resolve their concerns.
CETAG and NLC are expected to engage on August 16.