Teacher unions and government talks end without agreement

Negotiations between the government and Ghana's pre-tertiary teacher unions over the issues that triggered their ongoing industrial action have ended without a final agreement.

The meeting, held on Friday, October 2, was aimed at resolving concerns over unpaid promotion arrears, the delay in concluding a new Collective Agreement and the non-implementation of the Deprived Area Allowance.

General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Thomas Musah, said the government presented fresh proposals for consideration by the unions.

He explained that the unions would study the proposals and return to the negotiating table on Monday, October 5, before deciding on the way forward.

“The issues we tabled were discussed, but we couldn’t conclude on them. New proposals have been given to the unions to look at, and we will get back to them next week, Monday, October 5, and then we will take it from there.

“The engagement ended inconclusively. They have made some proposals; the unions will look at them and get back to them,” he said.

The government, meanwhile, has maintained that it remains committed to resolving the outstanding concerns of the teachers.

Education Minister Haruna Iddrisu said the government would honour its commitments, including the payment of the appropriate grades to teachers who have been promoted.

“We are hopeful that by next week, the restoration of normal academic work will be done. But negotiations are inconclusive. We’ll honour our commitment to the new grades for all promoted teachers on or before October 30.

“The Controller General will, on Monday, validate data for up to 51,000 persons. A supplementary payment schedule will be provided for that category. We will not renege on our pledge as government,” he said.

Mr Iddrisu also appealed to the unions to reconsider their decision to continue with the strike while negotiations remain ongoing.

“We’ll call on teachers to consider this by calling off their industrial action,” he said.

The unions are expected to review the government's latest proposals before the next engagement on Monday, October 5. No final decision on the strike had been announced at the close of Friday's meeting.