Pre-tertiary c unions call off strike
The three pre-tertiary teacher unions in the country have called off the industrial action they embarked upon on March 20, 2024.
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This is in compliance with an injunction secured by the National Labour Commission (NLC) following the teachers' failure to call off the strike after it directed them to do so. "It was not until this week that we were served with the injunction. As law-abiding citizens and having respect for the court, we hereby declare the strike that was called on March 20, 2024, off.
Resume
"We ask all our members and teachers of pre-tertiary education in the country to resume work with immediate effect," the President of the Coalition of Concerned Teachers-Ghana (CCT-GH), King Awudu Ali, said at a press conference in Accra yestesday on behalf of the three unions.
The two other teacher unions are the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT). They went on strike to ask for a Continuous Professional Development Allowance, deprived area allowance, transport and committing allowance, rent/housing allowance and teaching/assessment allowance.
However, after the NLC called on the teachers to call off the strike, they responded that they had a procedure within which to call off the strike.
Ministry
Mr Ali called on the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations to resume talks today (April 2, 2024) "so that we can expedite the negotiations and come to a conclusion to forestall any other happenings in the future".
The unions, he said, commended all the teachers that obeyed the directives and "we hereby thank them so much for the massive support they showed us and we want to assure them that we have their interest at heart".
Mr Ali said the items or demands that had been put on the table would be followed through to its end.
Declaration
At a press conference to declare the strike, the President of GNAT, Reverend Isaac Owusu, who spoke on behalf of the unions, explained that the move was a result of the failure of the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to address some pressing issues that were affecting teachers’ ability to effectively deliver on their mandates.
He said that the government had failed to renegotiate a Collective Agreement, which addressed issues such as allowances for teachers in underserved areas, entertainment allowance, and housing/rent allowance, following the expiration of the existing one in 2023.
He stressed that the document should have been completed on or before February 29, 2024. “Thus, the new Collective Agreement stands un-negotiated, and we raised this concern in our letter to the Director-General, GES, dated February 29, 2024, and also informed the National Labour Commission (NIC),” Rev. Owusu added.
He also attributed the strike action to the inability of the GES to institute a functional Scheme of Service for Teachers that could take care of all requirements the teaching profession needs.