Striking teacher unions, government fail to resolve impasse
A meeting on Tuesday to address the one week old strike by teacher unions collapsed as parties to the negotiations failed to make a headway.
The meeting failed as the teachers' representatives refused to call off the strike while government officials insisted that negotiations were possible only if no party was on strike in line with the labour laws.
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The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Teachers and Educational Workers Union and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana, have since July 5, declared an indefinite nation-wide strike to back demands for 20 per cent of workers’ pay as Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) to cushion members from the current economic difficulties.
The strike by the teachers has grounded teaching and learning activities in public schools across the country, with government officials urging the teachers to reconsider their action and return to work.
Following Tuesday’s failed meeting, Bright Wereko-Brobbey told journalists the meeting had been adjourned following the refusal of the teacher unions to call off their strike to pave the way for negotiations, indicating also that the meeting was likely to reconvene in the course of the week.
The teachers who walked out of the meeting, for their part, accused the government of betraying their trust after inviting them to meet and then insisting that they call off the strike to be able to negotiate.
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