Striking Teacher Unions Dig In
By Prince Ahenkorah
Striking teacher unions have rejected calls to return to the classroom, insisting that they will maintain their industrial action until the government takes concrete steps to address their outstanding concerns.
The decision follows a meeting between the unions and the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, who appealed to the teachers to call off the strike and return to work, assuring them that the government would address their concerns.
The unions involved are the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), and the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG).
The unions are demanding the payment of outstanding promotion arrears and progress in negotiations over their conditions of service.
However, the teachers say they are no longer prepared to rely on assurances from the government, insisting that they want to see tangible action before returning to the classroom.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, the Head of Salaries, Grievances and Negotiations at GNAT, Isaac Baah, said the latest engagement had not changed the unions’ position.
“Indeed, we met the minister and his team this afternoon with regard to our strike action. It has been the old story of promises upon promises,” he said.
“At the moment, we are not taking promises. We want action.”
Mr Baah said the unions would remain on strike until they saw evidence that the government had implemented its commitments to resolve the teachers’ concerns.
“Our teachers must continue to stay home until we see something concrete,” he said.
According to him, the unions expect the outstanding salaries and arrears to reflect on teachers’ payslips and be credited to their accounts before they will consider returning to the classroom.
“Until we see the salary and the arrears reflecting on our payslips and credited to our accounts, until we see that, we are not going back to school,” Mr Baah stated.
He further stressed that the industrial action would continue until all outstanding issues raised by the unions were addressed and resolved.
“We’ll continue to stay home until all our issues are addressed and resolved,” he said.
The unions’ position puts further pressure on the government to resolve the outstanding payment and conditions-of-service issues as the strike continues to affect teaching and learning in pre-tertiary schools.