TEWU begins strike today over unpaid allowance

Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union (TEWU) of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) will today, Wednesday, January 5, 2022, embark on a nationwide strike to demand better conditions of service.

According to TEWU, the government has failed to clear the backlog of their professional development allowances owed them since 2020.

At a press conference on Tuesday, 4 January 2022,
General Secretary of TEWU, Mark Dankyira Korankye said “the government must take appropriate steps to address their concerns within the shortest possible time”.

He noted that “Government must with immediate effect stop the discrimination against TEWU and pay members their outstanding professional development allowance.”

Mr. Mark Dankyira Korankye also added that the strike applies to all its members and that every one of them must obey the directive.

“All our members, both in the schools, district, and regional offices are going to withdraw our services until an amicable settlement of this matter is reached”.

“It was resolved, among others that if by the close of the year 2021, the professional development allowances had not been paid to the non-teaching staff of the Ghana Education Service, then as schools reopen for the last phase of the second semester, our members would withdraw their services to push home our demand of the payment of this professional development allowances,” he insisted.

The group’s last strike threat was in May 2021. That threat was in protest of poor conditions of service.

The union’s last strike was on January 13, 2022, but the union’s national leadership called off the strike on January 18.

At the time, TEWU said suspending the industrial action was going to allow for negotiations with the government to be conducted in good faith.

TEWU has been in talks with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission since June 2019 on the review of the conditions of service for unionised staff of public universities.

There is a growing agitation on the labour front. Apart from TEWU, anaesthetists are on strike with UTAG to join January 10, 2022.
Source : africaneditors.com