King Ali Awudu of the Coalition of Concerned Teachers, Ghana, (CCT-GH), has disclosed that there are currently six issues bothering teachers in the country that are still on the negotiation table with government.
Mr. Awudu says their March 20, 2024 nationwide strike which was called off on April 02, was as a result of an agreement reached with the Labour Commission to discuss their conditions of service for which reason they embarked on the industrial action.
Speaking on TV3’s Hot Issues with Keminni Amanor Sunday, April 07, 2024, Mr. Awudu explained that one of the major issues some of them faced, which involved the suspension of the salaries of some teachers by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has been resolved, with majority of the teachers getting their salaries.
“Labour Commission also made a ruling… recently there were some teachers whose salaries were blocked by the Office of the Special Prosecutor. In fact the employer itself didn’t know that the OSP was taking some exercise. It started from January this year. The salary was not blocked at the Controller level,” he said.
He explained that although the teachers got alert that their salaries had been paid, their banks informed them that there is a directive from the OSP to suspend it. The CCT-GH President stated that “the Labour Commission ruled that within one month, that is by the end of April”, the matter should be addressed, “and it’s been resolved and the teachers that are involved has reduced drastically.”
He, however, indicated that “the other six issues that we couldn’t reach agreement at Labour Commission are those that are on negotiation table. We call it Continuous Professional Development Allowance, Deprived Area Allowance, Utility Subsidy Allowance, Teaching or Assessment Allowance, Rent Allowance and Transport or Commuting Allowance. These six are what is on the table for negotiation.”
Three pre-tertiary teacher unions who recently went on strike over their conditions of service called off their action.
The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana (CCT-GH) declared an industrial strike over what they described as poor conditions of service.
They attributed the move to the failure of the Ministry of Education and its implementing agency, the Ghana Education Service (GES) to put in place better conditions of service.
Issues highlighted by the teachers were the absence of an appropriate Scheme of Service and a Collective Agreement, rampant changes in school calendar without recourse to the teachers, inefficient distribution of laptops and blockage of some teachers’ salaries by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
Following the announcement, both the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) and the National Labour Commission (NLC) critiqued the move and urged the teachers to go back to the negotiating table.
In a statement issued Tuesday, April 02, 2024, King Ali Awudu, President of the Coalition of Concerned Teachers, Ghana, intimated the importance for their employers to swiftly address their concerns of the unions.
“As law abiding citizens and having respect for the court, we hereby declare the strike that was called on 20th March 2024 off. We ask all our members and teachers of pre-tertiary education in this country to resume work with immediate effect,” he said.
“We continue to ask the employer led by the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations to commence negotiations this afternoon, today April 2 2024. So we can expedite the negotiations and come to a conclusion to forestall any other happenings in the future,” he added.
