Accra: The Volta Regional Secretariat of the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has aligned with its national leadership to initiate a nationwide strike in response to aggravated and unfair labour discrimination issues.
According to Ghana News Agency, the membership of TEWU consists of non-teaching staff of the Ghana Education Service (GES), junior staff of Public and Technical Universities, as well as staff of the Ghana Library Authority (GLA) and Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB). The group contends that despite their indispensable role in the educational system, members have been sidelined in terms of welfare, benefits, and conditions of service, as stipulated in the Labour Act (Act 651).
The group has voiced concerns that promises made to them remain unresolved, highlighting neglect, discrimination, and unfair labour practices that contravene the 1992 Constitution and the Labour Act. A statement signed by Mr. King James Azortibah, General Secretary of TEWU of TUC, and read by Madam Ruth Baidoo, the Regional Industrial Relations Officer of TEWU of TUC, emphasized the failure to pay their Continuous Professional Development Allowance (CPDA), weekend and overtime allowances for security and catering personnel, and unresolved promotion grievances in the GES and Public and Technical Universities as reasons for the industrial action.
The group is demanding that the government, through the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, finalize and sign their conditions of service without further delays or excuses. The statement clarified that the strike action is not intended to punish Ghanaian students or parents but is a response to an unjust and unfair system that perpetuates hardship while undermining the dignity and rights of its members. It urged public support to address their legitimate grievances.
Meanwhile, Madam Baidoo expressed to the Ghana News Agency that the discrimination against the group had reached an unprecedented level, and the time for reaction could no longer be postponed. She detailed that members at the University of Health and Allied Sciences have faced unresolved grievances and highlighted that GES members continue to endure injustices without avenues for redress.
She further explained that while their counterparts are receiving CPDA payments, their members with equivalent degrees have not been upgraded, with teachers already benefiting from this facility. She noted that even when upgrades are processed, it takes between four to five years to normalize.
