Lambussie MP Professor Titus Beyuo has cautioned that failing to fulfil commitments made to teacher unions could damage the credibility of the Council of State and make it more difficult to resolve future labour disputes. He called on officials of the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department (CAGD), the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ministry of Education to ensure that all agreements reached to secure the suspension of the teachers’ strike are implemented promptly.
Speaking on The Big Issue on Channel One TV on Saturday, October 10, Prof. Beyuo stressed that the intervention of the Council of State should not be taken for granted, warning that failure to honour the agreements could erode the confidence of organised labour in future mediation efforts.
“The Council of State is a very important institution. We should not drag their name in the mud. And how can we drag their name in the mud? If what they have interceded and pleaded with the [teacher] unions and they have agreed, is not implemented and then the next time who comes in?” he said.
Prof. Beyuo further urged the technical officials responsible for implementing the agreements to maintain the same level of urgency despite the suspension of the industrial action.
“We don’t wish that anything they have agreed on or negotiated on their behalf should be left unattended to. So, I am pleading with the technical people at the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department, the GES and the Ministry of Education. Don’t let this strike that has been suspended mean that the foot has been taken off the pedal and therefore no more effort is at work. Let’s work as though there was still a strike hanging on our neck,” he said.
His comments come after the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Pre-Tertiary Teachers’ Association of Ghana (PRETAG) suspended a two-week nationwide strike following negotiations with the government and intervention by the Council of State.
The unions had been demanding the payment of outstanding promotion-related entitlements and improvements in other conditions of service.
As part of the resolution, the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department assured the unions that outstanding promotion allowances would be paid by October 16.
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