A strike by three labor unions involved in pre-tertiary education has been declared, with effect from today, March 20, 2024, due to what they claim are unsatisfactory working conditions.
The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana (CCT-GH), and the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) are the unions.
During a news conference conducted at the NAGRAT offices in Accra, the union leadership revealed this.
In a statement on behalf of the unions, GNAT President Reverend Isaac Owusu stated that the action was taken because the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Ministry of Education had neglected to address a number of critical problems that were impeding teachers’ capacity to carry out their mandates.
After the current Collective Agreement expired in 2023, he claimed that the government had failed to renegotiate one that would have addressed issues like housing/rent allowance, entertainment allowance, and allowances for teachers in underprivileged areas.
He emphasized that the paper needed to be finished by February 29, 2024, at the latest.
“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.
Additionally, he blamed the strike action on the GES’s failure to implement a workable Scheme of Service for Teachers that meets all the needs of the teaching profession.
The unions also demanded that the government and the GES finish providing laptops to all teachers, refrain from enacting arbitrary changes to the school calendar without consulting the unions first, as this was impeding the smooth operation of the unions, and stop the Office of Special Prosecutor (OSP) from withholding certain teachers’ salaries without following established protocols.
“In the light of the above circumstances and given the delays, unfulfilled promises on the part of the Employer and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, (FWSC) and also threats from the rank and file of our members, we the Pre-tertiary Teacher Unions do stand with our members and hereby declare a nationwide industrial action (strike) to press home our demands,” he said
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