The Teachers Education Workers Union (TEWU), whose members include bursars, cooks, cleaners, administrators, accountants, auditors, among others, has declared a nationwide strike effective Wednesday, 5 January 2022 over the nonpayment of their professional development allowance.

The union’s General Secretary, Mr Mark Denkyira Korankye, told journalists at a press conference that: “All our members, both in the schools, district and regional offices are going to withdraw our services until an amicable settlement of this matter is reached”.

“It was resolved, among others that if by the close of the year 2021, if the professional development allowances had not been paid to the non-teaching staff of the Ghana Education Service, then as schools reopen for the last phase of the second semester, our members would withdraw their services to push home our demand of the payment of this professional development allowances,” he noted.  

Mr Korankye said the “government must, with immediate effect, stop the naked discrimination against TEWU and pay members their continuous professional development allowance.”.

Almost a year ago, TEWU went on a similar strike on Wednesday, 13 January 2021 over the government’s failure to finalise their conditions of service.

According to TEWU, their strike, at the time, was due to the inability of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to conclude negotiations with them following engagements in June 2020 on the review of conditions of service for unionised staff of the public universities, which expired in 2008.

TEWU local chair at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Mr Charles Arthur, told Class News at the time that they would only call off their strike when their demands were met.

He said: “We’re beginning a full-blown nationwide strike in all public universities in Ghana, it’s going to be simultaneous at 10 am”.

“We’ll declare strike for every member to go home. As we speak now, we’ve not heard anything from Fair Wages and our decision still stands that Wednesday God willing we are embarking on an industrial action i.e. strike.”

Mr Arthur noted that all efforts to get the FWSC to the negotiation table has proved futile. 

They later called off the strike after five days.