A group calling itself the Coalition of Unpaid Teachers is accusing its mother teacher unions, the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), of turning a blind eye to their plight.
According to the coalition, which comprises over 3,600 teachers, they have been working since 2014 without any compensation, but GNAT and NAGRAT have not shown any commitment to help them with negotiations to place them on the payroll.
[contextly_sidebar id=”BITQeneRAA8H0WWLIujiW7zKUkkLjoSo”]Speaking to Citi News, the General Secretary of the Coalition of Unpaid Teachers, Isaac Amponsah, noted that the unions used to show concern for the unpaid teachers’ plight until the coalition started “hearing that they [the unions] said we are not their members yet so they cannot fight for us.”
Lack of support limiting bargaining power
Mr. Amponsah also explained that, the lack of support from the teacher unions also limited their bargaining power as the government is expecting the unions to deal with their concerns.
“When we engaged authorities, they also told us the rest is left for the teacher unions to deal with our issue and if it has to come to any bargaining, we don’t have that bargaining certificate or the authority to do that so they cannot engage us anymore.”
He also lamented that, the teachers already on the payroll were getting more attention as far as salaries were concerned, as “those who are already on the payroll are being paid their arrears in bulk, whiles we have not taken anything at all.”
Mr. Amponsah maintained that, he and his colleagues were not being treated fairly.
“We are not being treated fairly at all. We have gone through all the processes. They have to fight and if they don’t want to fight for us, we will just take it like that. We have become victims of circumstances.”
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana