Coalition of Concerned Teachers has threatened to embark on strike from November 17
Government increased public sector salaries by 4% and 7% for 2021 and 2022 respectively
The announcement was greeted with strong opposition from public sector workers
Coalition of Concerned Teachers says it will embark on an industrial action to press home their demand for better conditions of service
The Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) has served notice to embark on a strike action from Wednesday November 17, 2021 over poor conditions of service.
The group says it will be forced to strike if the government fails to act on an agreement it had with the National Labour Commission (NLC).
According to the group, the NLC, at a meeting, gave them their word that government will by November 17 resolve all their outstanding concerns including allowances of it members.
With just a day for the deadline to elapse, President of CCT, King Ali Awudu says the group will discontinue the services they render if the government does not honor its promise.
“The 17th of November 2021 deadline given to GES and Teacher Unions to resolve issues (such as responsibility allowance, deprived area allowance, promotion challenges etc) presented to the National Labour Commission is tomorrow Wednesday, November 17th, 2021. We wish to caution that, if by the 17th of November, 2021, no favorable agreement is reached among the parties, we would not be able to hold the anger of teachers any longer,” he said at a press conference Tuesday November 16, 2021.
CCT is also calling on the government to begin renegotiation process to revise base pay for public sector workers.
Government increased the salaries of public sector workers by 4% and 7% for 2021 and 2022 respectively however this has not gone down well with persons who draw their salaries from government coffers.
President of CCT, King Ali Awudu argues that the current economic situation has rendered the increment inadequate.
“Though the Unions for the Public Sector Workers through the Public Services Joint Standing Negotiations Committee (PSJSNC) agreed on 4% and 7% base pay increment for 2021 and 2022 respectively, the economic situation in the country as of now has necessitated the call to take a second look at the Base Pay. Since March this year, the conditions of our members (workers) and their purchasing power keep declining as a result of the difficult economic conditions in the country. Prices of goods and services are soaring, thus making the 7% base pay increment for next year already moot. In line with this, we call on the government to, as a matter of urgency, invite the leadership of Organised Labour, to sit and negotiate for a Cost Of Living Allowance (COLA) for all public sector workers to ease the pain and suffering from the economic hardship teachers (workers) go through. We request that these negotiations should commence before the end of this year, so it can be completed before the 2023 negotiations begin in the first quarter of 2022,” he stated.