The Deputy General Secretary of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Michael Ayuraboah, said the government had abandoned the teachers' unions and left them in the lurch with the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).
Speaking to ‘The Pulse’ in Joy News today, he pointed out that, the government has a responsibility to ensure that teachers are economically successful.
He noted, however, that the structure of the Akufo-Addo government shows otherwise.
“On the contrary, the government does not care about us. Why? The government beat us to the ground and embarrassed the leadership, in 2020, negotiating salaries for 2021/2020 4% and 7% respectively, that was a shame for the leadership, but we should have taken it seriously but nothing has changed in power. be about how we treat this country and what the costs were. In fact, they have a responsibility under Article 36 of our constitution to ensure that our economic well-being is good. If inflation is today, it is 27.6% and more than what you would expect from a Ghanaian? ” he said.
He also added that the government's constant criticism of the Russian-Ukrainian war cannot be an excuse to escape its responsibility since talks on COLA began in 2020.
“I do not think there was a war in Ukraine and Russia in 2020, but we took 4%. I do not think there was a war in Ukraine in 2021 why do we use that as an excuse? In fact, the last time I looked, I was not sure if it was about the type of food we ate, if you look at inflation wheat and all the things from Russia it is not something we are talking about. I still remember how the Minister of Agriculture used to tell us that bananas and oysters were so cheap in this country. Corn and other foods we eat and rice. To the best of my knowledge, they do not come from Ukraine. All we want is to know that petrol prices have gone up, we know that food and goods and services have gone up and our income is still the same, ”he lamented.
The Coalition for Teachers Unions formed by GNAT, NAGRAT, TEWU and CCT today announced a permanent strike over unpaid COLA from Monday, July 4th.