COLA strike meeting with government inconclusive – TU
Meeting with the government on Wednesday, July 6, 2022, regarding the demand for a 20% Cost of living allowance (COLA) was inconclusive, the leadership of the four Teacher Unions (NAGRAT, GNAT, TEWU & CCT-GH) has announced.
The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) in a social media post sighted by AcademicWeek said the COLA strike engagement with the Ministry of Education (MoE) and other stakeholders has been moved to a different date.
According to the Ghana Teachers Association, public basic school teachers at the pre-tertiary education level amid the central government’s decision not to grant them the 20% Cost of living allowance (COLA) are still on strike.
Prior to the meeting, President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Angel Carbornu said the Teacher Unions will not call off their nationwide industrial action until their Cost of living allowance demands are met.
Speaking on Accra-based Citi 93.7 FM’s Eyewitness News show, the NAGRAT leader said the ongoing strike action is the last option for his colleague Unions several negotiations with the government yielded no positive results.
“We have overdone proper and wide consultations prior to the strike announcement. All ten regional secretariats of the unions, one after the other, the groups had indicated to the government the peril under which teachers are working
We started making this call as far back as February. That is what has brought us to the point where we are today. To back down [on our demands] is an indication that we should not have even asked for it,” Carbonu told Citi FM.
The National Association of Graduate Teachers President indicated that their strike action is not only a protest against the non-payment of their living allowances but a reflection of worsening economic conditions in the country.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) has urged the pre-tertiary education sector Unions to call off their ongoing industrial action to avoid further disruption of the 2022 academic calendar.
In a statement copied to AcademicWeek, the Students Union said government primary school students at the end of the day will be the ultimate victims should the simmering tension between government and teachers persists.
“We are minded of the Akan adage that “when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers” hence our students will be victims should the simmering tension between government and the Labour Unions persists
We will also like to call on our dear teachers not to have a non-negotiable position on this matter given the adverse effect of protracted strike action on academic life,” the President of NUGS, Dennis Appiah said in the press statement.
