Striking teachers have called off their strike after reaching an agreement with the government on a 15% cost of living allowance (COLA).
Teachers at the elementary and secondary levels resigned on Monday, July 4, after giving the administration an end-of-June deadline to provide them with a stipend in the midst of economic difficulties.
The teachers were chastised for being insensitive because their actions occurred at a time when the government was overburdened by economic difficulties, requiring it to seek a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- Today is the deadline for Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana to go on strike.
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They were instructed to imitate the other irate public sector workers who remained on the job despite demands for a 20% COLA.
All attempts to reach an agreement had failed because the leaders of the striking teacher unions walked out of those talks in a rage.
The leaders were accusing government of not tabling any proposals regarding the COLA.
On Thursday, July 14, the striking unions – the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) and Coalition of Concerned Teachers-Ghana (CCT-G) – wrote to government representatives of their deferment of further discussions on the COLA demands to Organised Labour, which was billed to meet them.
After that round of meeting, a 15 percent COLA was agreed to by all parties.
It is effective Friday, July 1.
Following the agreement, it was indicated “that all industrial actions underway and threats of same will be called off immediately and that Labour would return to work forthwith”.
“We hereby direct all our members and wish also to inform them that effective July 14, 2022, we have called off the strike that we embarked upon on the 4th of July,” GNAT’s General Secretary Thomas Musa Tanko addressed journalists.
