The fair wages and Salaries Commission to meet at a round table with stakeholders to determine whether the 20% Cost of living Allowance COLA demanded by the various Teacher unions will be paid.
The National Association of Graduate Teachers NAGRAT and the Ghana National Association of Teachers GNAT has threatened to embark on a series of strike should government fail to pay the Cost of Living Allowance COLA allowance before the end of the 30th June 2022
GNAT and NAGRAT have based on the economic hardship and demanded the payment of COLA allowance. According to the two teacher unions, the current economic hardship has made teachers worse off.
But the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission has continued its stands that all stakeholders must meet for the final decision to be taken on whether Teachers will be paid the Cost of Living Allowance.
“It’s fair that stakeholders are able to propose the payment of COLA or any other allowance, but at the end of the day, we have to get to the table with organized labour, government and all other parties to determine whether COLA will be paid. We are also yet to negotiate the base pay for 2023 so that it is factored into the budget. That is yet to be done to determine the minimum daily wage”, said Earl Ankrah, Head of Public Affairs at the Commission.
NAGRAT vice president, Jacob Annaba has explained that the current economic hardship, the worsening status of their members, and the continuous failure of the government to negotiate have called for the ultimatums to be made.
“The President had earlier said, and I quote, “we (government) know how to bring the economy back to life. What we do not know is how to bring people back to life”. The question is what has changed? Mr. President, your people (workers) are dying; please attend to them now and do not prioritise the economy over the human resources. The worker can no longer bear the economic hardship.”
The leadership of NAGRAT has explained that they will be pushed by all means to embark on indefinite strike actions if their demands are not met.