GNAT calls on teachers to remain calm, negotiations ongoing

Mr Thomas Musah, the General Secretary, Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), has called on teachers across the country to remain calm while leadership engages the government to resolve their challenges. He said negotiations with the government were ongoing to address teachers concerns with regards to the poor condition of service. Pre-tertiary teacher unions in the regions have embarked on demonstrations, demanding the immediate disbursement of their allowances and other conditions of service. In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, the General Secretary assured the teachers that the negotiations had not broken down and pledged that the national leadership would ensure that engagement with the government benefited the interests of all teachers. He said the Labour Commission had directed the Office of Special Prosecutor to ensure that teachers whose salaries were blocked unjustly were restored to them without delay. The OSP has withheld the salaries of 1310 teachers, citing an investigation into 'ghost names' on the government payroll. Out of the figure, the OSP has released 906 teachers, while 404 are yet to receive their pay. In view of that, Mr Musah said the national leadership was pursuing the directives to ensure that the issues were resolved amicably. 'The Labour Commission has given the Office of the Special Prosecutor up to June 26 to address the issues, but we have concluded negotiations before the timeline,' he said. He said the leadership of the union had met with the government and stakeholders to address their concerns. The stakeholders include the Ministry of Finance, the Controller and Accountant General, the Social Security and National Insurance Trust, and the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations. Mr Musah said the meeting set up a five-member technical committee to conduct feasibility studies on the data of teachers relating to tier two pension contributions, past credit issues, and the implementation of the GLICO report, among others. He said the committee was e xpected to submit the report to resolve the issues concerning their conditions of service. Source: Ghana News Agency