Education Minister Hot …As Teacher Unions Declare Indefinite Strike Over COLA

While government works to get the economy back on track by engaging the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a possible bailout, four teacher unions have declared a nationwide indefinite strike.

The four teacher unions are; Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) and, Teachers & Educational Workers’ Union (TEWU).

The industrial action which took effect on Monday, July 4, 2022, follows months of no action, after their demands for the payment of the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).

Perhaps, it is the biggest strike to havehit Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Education Minister, since he took over as substantive sector minister about two years ago.

The decision to strike was announced by the General Secretary of GNAT, Thomas Musah Tanko, on Monday in Accra. The action affects both teaching and non-teaching staff.

The teachers had earlier given government their deadline of end of June this year, to grant the 20 per cent Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) or risk the anger of over 240,000 teachers, nationwide.

According to them, the delay by government continues to affect the meagre earnings of workers at a time cost of everything on the market has been increased, astronomically.

Speaking at a joint press conference on Monday, the General Secretary of GNAT, Thomas Musah, regrets calls to government for appropriate action have not been heeded to.

“We can no longer bear the hardship. Even more so, we reject the inequality of salaries in the public services of this country. We have been compelled under the current circumstances to publicly communicate to Ghanaians on our intention to go on strike, having gone past the June 30, 2022 deadline [that] we gave government, for the payment of the Cost of Living Allowance.

Consequently, we have decided to embark on strike from today,Monday, July 4, 2022. By this, we are informing the general public that we are withdrawing services in all the pre-tertiary education institutions. This includes teaching and non-teaching staff”, he announced.

President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers, Angel Carbonu,on his part, said the decision to strike is because they have been pushed to the wall.

The teachers are fighting for the payment of between 20% and 30% of their salaries, as a Cost of Living Allowance.

The allowance, according to the teachers, will cushion them on the back of current economic conditions and the worsening plight of teachers.

Meanwhile, some stakeholders in recent past have said, even though the call for COLA is legitimate, teacher unions should use the opportunity to fight for a permanent solution to the challenges facing teachers.

On the side of government, it had assured it was going to reach an agreement with the leadership of teacher unions, but that is yet to happen.

Meanwhile, the Employment and Labour Relations Ministry, says it has invited the leadership of the teacher unions to a meeting over their demands.

It, however, says only the leadership of GNAT had responded to attend, with NAGRAT and CCT yet to respond.

Once the unions are ready to show up for the meeting, it would be held, the Ministry has assured.

“I am still waiting for signals for us to meet where all stakeholders will be brought on board and the outcomes of those meetings will be laid bare to you [teachers]. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

“The fact that times are hard is trite knowledge. It is a reality. Our largest workforce as a country is teachers, and I must confess that public sector workers must be commended,” Deputy Employment Minister, Bright Wereko-Brobbey, told JoyNews in an earlier interview.

Source: theanchorghana