Pre-tertiary teacher unions are upset that government owes their second-tier pension funds over GHC600,000,000 for a period of one year.
The unions, Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) Ghana say, any further delay may result in agitations by the over 400,000 teachers nationwide in the coming weeks.
Leadership of the unions spoke exclusively with our labour correspondent Daniel Opoku in Accra on August 13.
According to the Pensions Act (Act 766), government is expected to deduct 5.5% from salaries of workers for their second their pension scheme.
However, for the past twelve months, the second-tier pension of all public sector workers has been in arrears for twelve months.
In the case of the pre tertiary teacher unions, their education sector pension scheme has also been in arrears for twelve months.
Leadership of the unions indicated that the delay has created agitations among their rank and file.
President of NAGRAT, Angel Carbonu called on government to transfer the arrears without delay.
“We are talking about an amount of GHC636,000,000 and this figure I mentioned is even without the penalties. If a Ghanaian public sector worker retires today what it means is that he or she is taking pension minus the twelve months. As to when he or she will get the twelve months only God knows,” he said.
The President of the CCT, King Ali Awudu criticized government for flouting the Pensions Act 766.
In the Act, government is expected to within fourteen days transfer the funds and pay 3% penalty in case it delays.
“The most annoying thing is that government does not pay the penalties on these monies. The law says that if government fails to pay on the fourteenth of the next month, 3 percent penalty and it is compounded.”
“There are certain sectors in this economy that do not pay pensions, but on the day they go on retirement, on that same day government is able to find money from the consolidated account and then pay them. Why should the law be made to favour some people and disfavour some people?” he asked.
General Secretary of GNAT, Thomas Musah Tanko described the delay as an act of provocation.
“President and his people, they will all retire on Article 71. When they go a committee will be constituted and they will work out what is due them. Some of them they will take their bungalows, some of them they will take their vehicles away, but the ordinary worker what is he taking away, if the ordinary worker is not taking anything away, and what is due him too you deny him, it is an act of provocation,” he stressed.
“The members out there, they know the language that the powers that be understood, it will get to a stage where we will all speak the language they understand to them”.
“When the masses are about to react, they don’t tell you anything. The masses they have their own time, they have their own time of exploding,” Mr Tanko cautioned.
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The post Pre-tertiary teacher unions upset with government over GHC600m arrears in 2nd-tier pension payments first appeared on 3News.
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