The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour Ewuah, has announced that all issues between the Ministry and the Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG) have been resolved.

CETAG laid down their tools weeks ago, demanding improved working conditions and the enforcement of a National Labour Commission (NLC) ruling.

However, after staying away from work for over a month, CETAG members had their July salary frozen by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC).

• Read also: We need action, not assurances from government – TTAG on strike by CETAG

Speaking to the media after appearing before the Public Accounts Committee on Friday, August 2, the Minister said all outstanding issues have been settled.

“I have engaged and have concluded. We have even signed a Memorandum of Understanding indicating what government commitment is going forward. The request also for them to go back to class, we have signed onto that. They have equally signed. But you know, those who came to represent the teachers were just the leaders. They requested that they needed to have a consultation with their members to officially call off the strike. So that's why we are waiting.”

“In their case, their leadership have also signed so what is needed is for them to have their national council meeting and also take a decision, but I must admit that we still have work in progress. The most important issue even though there were quite several issues was the issue of migration. You know, they had been upgraded from teacher training institutions to colleges of education which meant their status has changed.”

“But fortunately for us, an assessment has been done, and the assessment indicates that about 98% of them do qualify so all 98% of persons who qualify, are now going to be migrated onto university status. We are using the University of Cape Coast as the yardstick for migration.”

Mr Ewuah also assured that the ministry has put measures in place to avert any industrial action before the end of this year.

He acknowledged that while financial considerations are a factor, delays were due to necessary audits and verification processes.

“We ought to audit to make sure that yes, if you said you have say a master's, it should be confirmed. Those processes sometimes have to travel between GTEC the principals of those colleges and the teachers themselves. This back and forth, sometimes raising queries and waiting for answers causes delays.”

“I don't think that was a deliberate action on the part of the government to delay, but let me also say that sometimes when institutions act, and perhaps they delay, the effect is that people think it is the central government that is not taking a particular action,” he said.

According to the Minister, in cases involving technical issues, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations cannot determine how specific degrees should be recognised.
Instead, input from field regulators is necessary to make these decisions.

“Let me honestly admit that in relationships, anything can happen at any time. I may not be able to foretell exactly what will be happening in the next 24 hours, but we are trying as much as possible to preempt any such issues and be able to develop strategies to evade them."

“I want to believe that for almost eight years, we have been very proactive in handling labour issues; certainly, as an industrial relations business, there will always be issues, but what is more important is when those issues come up, how are they handled, whether or not they are handled satisfactorily or not.”