No industrial action during elections time

Accra, Dec. 6, GNA - The Central Executive Committee of Polytechnics Local Unions in a joint meeting with the Teachers and Educational Workers' Union (TEWU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has suspended until further notice the industrial action undertaken by its members since October 26, this year.

A resolution adopted after the meeting held in Accra on Friday said, the union took cognisance of the upcoming Presidential and Parliamentary elections, during which period, most of the Ministers concerned could not be reached due to their campaign programmes.

It therefore, charged all members to resume normal work on Tuesday, December 7, 2004, and commended them for their forbearance.

The suspension, it went on, was also to give both the COPP and TEWU a little more time to secure the mandate from government to enable negotiations on new salary and conditions of service of members to go on.

The resolution urged the government as a matter of urgency to give the needed mandate, the delay of which became the bone of contention, which brought about the industrial action.

Meanwhile, TEWU has also called on the non-teaching staff of the Ghana Education Service (GES) to suspend forthwith any intended industrial action.

Giving reasons for the suspension, TEWU said the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning has in a letter directed "that salary distortions/disparities affecting the non-teaching staff should be rectified".

This was contained in a circular jointly signed by Mr Dan Ayim Antwi and Alhaji H. I. Kambasi, General Secretary and National Chairman of TEWU respectively.

It said, in view of the above, "all TEWU members who, due to frustrations arising from the long standing grievance, are staging demonstrations, contemplating industrial action or are in any form of industrial action, to suspend such action immediately".

Furthermore, the circular stated that TEWU would endeavour to ensure that rectification of the salary anomalies by the GES management, which affected about 600 non-teaching staff is implemented without delay.