Various teacher unions across the country have issued a one week ultimatum to the government to address their conditions of service by Monday May 13, 2024.
The unions, Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT), at various press conferences across the country on Monday May 6 stressed on challenges faced by their members due to harsh economic conditions.
The Unions have also expressed dissatisfaction with the government for failing to implement the allowances agreed upon in their Collective Agreement since 2009 and after the 2020 agreement.
“We wish to emphasize that the last 24 months have been the most tortuous for the Ghanaian Teacher, with no ray of hope of relief initiated by the Employer. If the government is negotiating with the IMF for the second tranche, for us as teacher unions, what we need to get from the government is what we are fighting for our members.
The government has got its priority and we the teachers have also got our priorities. Our priority must be set and we are hoping that the government will just heed and approve what our leadership has been demanding”, the unions said.
They stressed that, “As you know, the kind of taxes they take from our salaries is not small and therefore the government can just get the revenue it needs from the teachers and other workers in the country to pay off the other allowances that we are demanding.
On March 20 this year, the teacher unions initiated a strike action but called it off on April 2 after the National Labour Commission (NLC) obtained an interim injunction to halt the industrial action and called for the unions to return to the negotiation table.
Source: Myrepubliconline