TEWU on warpath over expired conditions of service
The Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) has raised red flags over the manner the government is dilly-dallying with the expired conditions of service of its members in particular and government workers in general.
It expressed worry over the fact that although the conditions of service of its members expired way back in 2007, the government had not kept faith with its own promise to ensure that a new one was in place by June this year.
The National Chairman of the union, Mr Peter Lumor, who sounded the alarm during the Ashanti Regional conference of the union in Kumasi, noted that when all public sector workers were waiting to negotiate with the government, medical doctors had been singled out and dealt with as a separate and special group.
He cautioned that when all TEWU unions, including the Ghana Education Service (GES), the polytechnics, the universities, the Ghana Library Board, the Museums and Monuments Board, among others, met in August this year and took a decision, “education in this country will come to a standstill”.
Break down
The conditions of service for members of the GES expired in 2007, those in the universities in 2008, while the conditions for those in the polytechnics expired in 2009.
Mr Lumor explained that with the implementation of the single spine salary structure (SSSS), it was agreed that all public sector workers should wait till all others were placed on the structure before they could negotiate for conditions of service, to which they all obliged.
According to him, in 2014, they were made to understand that almost 98 per cent of workers had been placed on the structure and that they had, therefore, expected that negotiations for the conditions of service would follow immediately.
He added, however, that that had not been followed.
He said in January this year when they were negotiating for salary adjustment, public workers accepted a 13 per cent increase from the government, with the expectation that conditions of service would be negotiated and completed in June 2015.
''We are in July and the government has singled out one member of public sector workers, medical doctors, and it is negotiating with that member. From August 10 to 15, this year, GNAT, NAGRAT and all the leadership of TEWU will meet in Kumasi and take a decision,” he added.
Regional Chair
The acting Ashanti Regional Chairperson of TEWU, Sister Gloria Temmah Gambrah, said non-teaching staff formed an integral part of the educational system in the country because their efforts complemented those of the teaching staff in the delivery of quality teaching and learning.
She entreated the government and heads of institutions to have a positive mind-set towards non-teaching staff and do their possible best to support them, adding that that would go a long way to enable the non-teaching staff to deliver effectively to ensure quality teaching and learning.