3 teacher unions declare another strike

By AlatiphA - October 27, 2014

Three teacher unions in the country will begin another indefinite strike from Tuesday.

The Unions are the Ghana National Association of Teachers(GNAT), the Coalition of Concerned Teachers(CCT) and the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT).

Though the three teacher unions are already on strike with other labour groups, the latest strike declared by them [three teacher unions] is to protest the non-payment of their transfer grants and vehicle maintenance allowances.

They say efforts to get government to address their grievances have proved futile.

The three unions maintained that they will not call off their strike even if the forum protesting the non-payment of their pension funds call off the ongoing strike.

Speaking to Citi News, the National Vice President of NAGRAT, Angel Kabonu said “if our grievances are not addressed teachers will remain on strike until our grievances are addressed.”

Responding to an earlier defiance by their members to strike, Mr. Kabonu said: “The situation the media reported earlier did not reflect the true situation. I want the media to go on the ground again and you will see a different situation,” he added.

Various labour groups embarked on a strike on October , 22 to protest the non payment of their tier two pension funds.

The strike has led to the closure of some public schools and some public institutions.

Government has described labour’s action as unlawful and unnecessary.

It has dragged the various labour unions to court in a bid to seek interpretation of the Pensions Act.

The National Labour Commission (NLC) has however stated that it may decline jurisdiction over the matter because of the lawsuit.

According to the Executive Secretary of the NLC, Dr Bernice Welbeck, the commission may adopt that decision if the case before it is the same as the one in court.

She said; “If the government or the employer has gone to court over the same issue and has also filed a petition at the commission, then the commission will decline jurisdiction because it has to be adjudicated at one forum and not two.”