The Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) has warned it will declare strike if their concerns before government are not addressed by next month.

“It is the expectation of TEWU that by the close of next month, the government and its agencies, particularly the GES, National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE), the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, the Ministry of Education, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) will help resolve the concerns of the non-teaching staff and ensure that their concerns receive proactive attention to prevent any industrial action from TEWU which can be avoided in the first place,” TEWU said in a statement sent to the Daily Graphic.

The statement signed by the Acting General Secretary of TEWU, Mark Dankyira Korankye further noted:

“The critical role the non-teaching staff play in ensuring conducive atmosphere for teaching and learning in schools, as well as quality service delivery in the broader education sector, should not be lost on government and its relevant agencies."

"The worry here is that policies for improving the welfare of players in the education sector tend to favour only the teaching staff, with the non-teaching staff sometimes seen as an after-thought”.

It added TEWU’s patience with government is running out.

TEWU is compelled to once again raise the issues and demand immediate action from the government and other stakeholders to have them addressed by the end of May 2019 in order to avert any nation-wide strike by members”.

The concerns include the non-payment of the critical support premium, recruitment of more non-teaching staff to support the few staff handling the Double Track Senior High School System, undue delay in releasing the Tier Two Pension Fund to the Ghana Education Service (GES) Occupational Pension Scheme, unfair treatment of non-teaching staff of the Colleges of Education, and market premium for TEWU members at the Colleges of Education.