The Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) has declared a nationwide strike over what they say is the failure of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to address their concerns relating to salaries.
TEWU indicated that the commission has failed to deliver on its promise of taking steps to bridge the gap between salaries of senior and junior staff of public universities.
“The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission has not been fair with us and has failed to carry out its part of the agreement after the submission of the committee’s report since June 2015,” a statement from the Union said.
“The Union held a press conference on the 10th of December, 2015, where it gave the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission up to end of December 2015 to implement the said agreement. As we speak today, 15th January 2016, these decisions have not been implemented by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, leaving us with no option than to advise ourselves,” it added.
Members of TEWU are generally dissatisfied with the implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS).
The dissatisfaction resulted in the formation of a committee to review and make recommendations on the implementation of the SSSS.
The committee’s report revealed that there was a real gap between the Junior and Senior staff that needed to be bridged among other things. But the Commission failed to act on the committee’s recommendations, after accepting that the Union’s concerns were genuine, hence a strike in September 2013.
Based on numerous appeals and assurances from the Commission, the strike was suspended after which TEWU, the Commission and the Vice Chancellors’ Ghana, agreed to bridge the gap between Junior and Senior staff of the public universities.
But TEWU says the Fair Wages Commission has not fulfilled its promise, hence their latest decision to embark on a strike.
