Education: Teacher union hints of strike action over GH¢50m arrears

According to the teacher union, the unpaid allowances have accrued from 2013 to date.

The Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CETAG), Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) have warned of embarking on a strike action if government does not take immediate steps to pay members of arrears amounting to over GH¢50 million.

According to the teacher union, the unpaid allowances have accrued from 2013 to date.

President of NAGRAT, Angel Carbonu in an interview on Accra-based Citi FM said, notice of the intended strike stemmed from their frustrations in their dealings with government.

READ MORE: Colleges of Education teachers lay down tools over unpaid salaries

He said the unions did not see any possibility of progress with the current negotiations.

He said "You go and have meetings and it is as if there is some break in synergy or understanding between the controller and accountant general, the audit service, all contributing to delays in the payment of the money."

"We served notice to the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission indicating that we have come to the end of the road. We have made these demands for a while, but we are not getting positive results so come this term, we will be taking industrial action to push further our demands," he added.

CETAG strikes

In November last year, CETAG declared a nationwide strike in protest of unpaid salaries.

 

The teachers had threatened to down their tools if the government failed to pay salary arrears owed its members since October 2016.

CETAG had lamented that, despite a directive by the National Labour Commission (NLC), asking the Ministry of Finance to pay the arrears within two weeks, they are yet to be paid.

According to them, per the migration of the tertiary statuses of the Colleges of Education following the passage of the Colleges of Education Act 847 in 2012, the teachers were expected to be paid the salary difference between their previous salary levels and the new salaries from January to September 2016.

READ ALSO: Newly recruited teachers to lay down tools on October 2

CETAG  has said that, until the arrears are paid, they are withdrawing their services from the 38 colleges across the country.

According to the teacher union, the unpaid allowances have accrued from 2013 to date. Read Full Story