The Coalition of Concerned Teachers has called the bluff of the National Labour Commission NLC directing them to return to the classrooms.
The National Labour Commission yesterday said the ongoing strike by the various teacher unions over salary arrears is illegal and therefore ordered the teachers to return to the classrooms.
But speaking to Citi News, President of the Coalition of Concerned Teachers, King Ali Awudu says they will only return to the classrooms when their concerns have been fully addressed by the government.
“Officially we have not seen the letter but we have heard about it in the media but that notwithstanding, we are not so much scared about the decision of the labor commission declaring our strike illegal because that has always been the stance of the labor commission whenever workers in this country are drumming home what is due them.
The only question we are asking them is that if the strike is illegal, is it legal for government to also owe employees, is it legal for someone to work for 48 months and his arrears have not been paid to him, is it legal for eleven thousand teachers to be owed arrears between the period of 2017 and 2018, is that one legal? Does the law of the country support that? Doesn’t the labor commission know that per the labor act where they draw their powers from, the same labor act says that equal work for equal pay so if I have worked, I must be paid. My money shouldn’t be in arrears, the laws of Ghana didn’t say that go and work so that your money will be paid at a later time. So we are not perturbed, we are still on strike and we are drumming home our demands until they are met. The strike still continues unabated.”
The three teacher unions, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT), are currently on a strike demanding the payment of salary arrears.
The NLC, which says the action is illegal and a breach of labor laws, directed the teachers to call off the strike and return to work.
A meeting between the NLC and the three teacher unions which was scheduled for Tuesday morning was canceled.
The meeting was to remedy the situation after a day of the industrial action.
However, the leaders of the three teacher unions disclosed their inability to be present for the meeting and rather requested the meeting to be rescheduled.
The post Coalition of concerned teachers calls NLC’s bluff on directive to call off strike appeared first on Citinewsroom - Comprehensive News in Ghana, Current Affairs, Business News , Headlines, Ghana Sports, Entertainment, Politics, Articles, Opinions, Viral Content.
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS