Three striking teacher unions have boycotted meetings with the government after they were dragged to the National Labour Commission(NLC).
The meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, November 8, 2022, after inconclusive deliberations on Monday.
However, the unions have refused to honour the meeting after the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations hauled them before the NLC over their strike action.
The ministry is seeking an intervention from NLC to ensure the pre-tertiary teachers return to the classroom.
On Monday, November 7, the unions urged their members to continue staying at home after the meeting with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations did not yield any favourable outcome.
President of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Rev Isaac Owusu, told journalists, “I can tell you on authority that so far so good we have had a very constructive meeting. The parties have agreed to adjourn and resume tomorrow at 2 PM to continue with the deliberations.”
“We have not ended the meeting. The agreement here is that the two parties have agreed that we should adjourn and resume tomorrow at 2 PM. The teachers should remain calm and continue to stay at home,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Bright Wireko Brobbey, also said, “We have had another constructive meeting. We have to do further consultation. Tomorrow God willing, we will bring this matter to a successful end.”
The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) are on strike as a protest against the appointment of Dr Eric Nkansah as Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES).
They embarked on the industrial action on Friday, November 4, 2022.
The associations believe that Dr Nkansah is a banker, not a professional teacher. Hence government should appoint another person with an education background.
They also cited other reasons for the strike, such as the failure of the Ministry of Education to promote qualified teachers in the profession, the failure to harness the payment of car or vehicle maintenance allowance to teachers, and the reluctance to deliver laptops for teachers to facilitate their teaching in the various schools.
According to the unions, the Ministry of Finance had indicated that their allowances were paid in 2018, but they have not received any allowances yet.
The unions started a series of meetings concerning the removal of Dr Eric Nkankah a week before the strike, but the government did not heed their call.