The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations and other stakeholders is expected to meet four teacher unions currently on strike today over their demands for a 20% Cost of Living Allowance.
President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Angel Carbonu who disclosed this said the unions are hopeful of a positive outcome.
“I hope Wednesday’s meeting will arrive at a concrete answer to the demands that we have made, and not appeal to us that it is in the pipeline,” he said in an interview on Citi news.
This comes after the leadership of all the various unions in the Pre-Tertiary Education Sector embarked on a nationwide strike in response to the government’s failure to grant them a 20% cost of living allowance amidst the current high inflation rate, increases in the price of goods and services, among others.
The demand was first made by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) at this year’s May Day celebrations.
But after their June 30 ultimatum was not met, the teachers triggered the industrial action to withdraw their services.
The unions currently on strike include the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU), and Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT).
The teachers are demanding that the government pay them a 20 percent Cost Of Living Allowance on the back of current economic conditions and the worsening plight of teachers.
In a press statement, the GES said it had invited the unions’ leadership to a meeting to discuss the matter.
“Management of the Ghana Education Service (GES) has read from the media that the various Unions in the Pre-Tertiary Education sector have declared withdrawal of their services with immediate effect.
“Management has since invited the leadership of the Unions to a meeting to discuss the development and the way forward,” The Head of Public Relations at GES, Cassandra Twum Ampofo, said in a release.
The National Labour Commission has also urged the teachers to rescind their decision to make way for negotiations.