Greater Accra teacher unions back nationwide strike over three key demands

The Greater Accra leadership of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG) have backed the ongoing nationwide strike by pre-tertiary teachers.

The unions are demanding urgent action from government on three key issues: placing promoted teachers on their new salary levels, concluding negotiations for a new Collective Agreement, and implementing the 20% Deprived Area Allowance.

Addressing a press conference at the NAGRAT Hall in Nungua, Greater Accra Regional Chairman of NAGRAT, Henry Teitey Tetteh-Afi, said the concerns remain unresolved despite earlier government commitments.

He said out of about 80,000 promoted teachers, only a little over 6,000 had so far been placed on their new salary levels.

Mr Tettey-Afi said this was despite an agreement reached on August 31 between the unions and relevant government agencies to complete the placement process by the end of September.

“We are here this morning to give our support to the national leadership in relation to the strike action that they declared exactly a week ago today,” he said.

He said negotiations for a new Collective Agreement had also stalled, while the 20% allowance for teachers working in deprived and hard-to-reach areas had yet to be implemented.

The regional leadership said it was not demanding that all outstanding issues be resolved immediately but wants the government to demonstrate concrete progress towards addressing them.

“We want to see steps that are being taken that will ensure that these things are implemented within the shortest possible time,” Mr Tettey-Afi said.

He added that the strike would continue until the government takes steps to address the concerns raised by the unions.

The Greater Accra leadership has also appealed to parents to keep their children at home for as long as the strike remains in force.

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