Teachers Union sounds the warning bell

The Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) of TUC has warned that they would advise themselves if the Ghana Education Service (GES) did not resolve by the end of this month the infractions of labour laws.

General Secretary of TEWU, Mr. Dan Ayim Antwi, outlining issues affecting members of TEWU at a press conference in Accra said distortions and disparities, non promotion of administrative personnel, irregular payment of negotiated allowances were grievances that needed redress.

Touching on salary irregularities, Mr. Ayim said, the implementation of the Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS) 1999 brought about distortions and disparities in the salary structure of the personnel of GES to the disadvantages of the non-teaching staff

He said in December 2001, the Controller and Accountant General's (C&A-G) Department implemented the new salary levels and also paid arrears from 1st August, 2001, but left out 140 grades with the excuse that they were not listed among those approved by the Ministry of Finance. He also noted that certain categories of non-teaching personnel especially those in the administrative position had not been promoted.

"Management's inaction on the issue brought about widespread discontent among the personnel and the Ministry of Finance in 1999 intervened and gave approval for the implementation of the restoration and alignment of grades and salaries for the administrative class, but the management failed to implement the Ministry's approval", he said.

The Union submitted proposals to review the existing collective bargaining agreement for non-teaching GES staff but for the past twelve months management has not made it possible for negotiations to begin.

It was however, unfortunate that management of the GES over the years has treated the genuine grievances of the employees carelessly and with impunity, the TEWU boss pointed out.