The three teacher unions have told the government to brace itself for a strike during the second term of the 2017\/2018 academic year.<\/p>\n
Although a specific date for the strike has not been given, the second term begins next week. The intended strike is in connection\u00a0with the non-payment of arrears amounting to over GHc 50 million.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”23t82629rc5rS7Mjnh2Wguuo4eDdE3kR”]According to them, the said arrears were captured to be paid in the March 2017 budget but were not paid.<\/p>\n
The unions, comprising the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT), have been negotiating with the government for the past 11 months.<\/p>\n
The unions say the unpaid allowances have accrued from 2013 to date.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Citi News<\/strong> on behalf of the three teacher\u00a0unions, the incoming President of NAGRAT, Angel Carbonu, noted that notice of the intended strike stemmed from their\u00a0frustrations in their dealings with government.<\/p>\n He said the unions did not see any possibility of progress with the current negotiations.<\/p>\n “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.\u201d<\/p>\n “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,\u201d Mr. Carbonu said.<\/p>\n Serious\u00a0agitation over the arrears begun in 2016, when NAGRAT threatened a similar action over the non-payment of salary arrears to 2013 and 2014 batches of newly recruited teachers, teachers on promotion, and others who were reinstated or re-engaged, and also outstanding transfer grants and allowances to deserving teachers.<\/p>\n