Teacher unions declare indefinite strike

Four teacher unions have declared an indefinite nationwide strike – effective Monday, July 4 – over demands for the payment of the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).

The unions are the Ghana National Association of Teachers, National Association of Graduate Teachers, Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana and the Teachers and Educational Workers Union.

They have blamed their industrial action on government’s failure to pay the COLA, which they argue could have helped to mitigate the impact of the rising cost of living.

But after a June 30 deadline was exhausted, the workers have withdrawn their services, both in and outside the classroom.

Speaking at a joint press conference on Monday, the General Secretary of the GNAT, Thomas Musah, stated that all their calls on government for appropriate action have fallen on deaf ears.

The unions declared the strike Monday morning (July 4, 2022) at a press conference in Accra.

“We can no longer bear the hardship. Even more so, we reject the inequality of salaries in the public services of this country. We have been compelled under the current circumstances to publicly communicate to Ghanaians on our intention to go on strike, having gone past the June 30, 2022 deadline [that] we gave government for the payment of the Cost of Living Allowance.

“Consequently, we have decided to embark on a strike action effective today, Monday, July 4, 2022. By this, we are informing the general public that we are withdrawing all our services in all the pre-tertiary education space – this includes teaching and non-teaching staff,” he announced.

Meanwhile, the Employment and Labour Relations Ministry says it has invited the leadership of the teacher unions to a meeting over their demands.

It, however, says only the leadership of GNAT had responded to attend, with NAGRAT and CCT yet to respond.

The unions released a joint statement to explain their action.

Below is the full statement: