A conference held in Accra yesterday[July 6, 2022] by the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations to assist settle difficulties causing a teachers' strike across the country came to a standstill.
As a result, leaders from the four teacher unions and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) declared that the strike will continue.
When journalists questioned attendees after the conference to learn what had happened, they had disappointment written all over their faces.
Some of their comments were "The strike continues" and "We will come back for further discussions."
Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, the Minister of Employment and Labor Relations, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, the Minister of Education, and members from the Ministry of Finance and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission served as the government's representatives.
Leaders from the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU), the Coalition of Concerned Teachers, Ghana (CCT-GH), the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and the TUC all spoke on behalf of the unions.
Demand
Joshua Ansah, the TUC's deputy general-secretary, told the media that the discussion was mostly about the teachers' demand for a cost of living allowance (CoLA) and that they will keep working with the government to find a compromise.
According to him, the meeting did not go as planned, and while negotiations are still ongoing, "we will not urge the teacher unions to call off the strike."
However, he warned that if the government did not solve the problem of CoLA, additional unions will soon join the teachers' strike.
Appeal
Bright Wireko-Brobby, the deputy minister of employment and labour relations, stated that while the government acknowledged the teachers' valid concerns, it made a plea to the unions to pressure their members to return to the classroom while discussions were ongoing.
He claimed that when the teachers announced their strike, the administration reached out to the unions in a constructive manner.
However, the deputy minister said that additional time was required since "things are harsh" as a result of ongoing global issues, which he claimed had hampered the nation's economic development.
"The administration is in a very precarious situation, and we made it clear to them that things are not looking good, therefore we beg them,"
They have valid worries, but the times are tough right now, so we will let them know as soon as things improve, which will be very soon, according to Mr. Wireko-Brobby.
He continued by saying that the administration was making every effort to allay their complaints in order for students and children to quickly return to the classroom.
Recall
To further hammer home their demand for the payment of CoLA, the teacher unions declared an indefinite strike on Monday.
They asserted that since February of this year, the government has not responded to their request for the payment of the stipend. The government was thus given a deadline by the unions for the payment of the stipend, which passed last Thursday without the unions' requests being satisfied.
The unions gave an explanation for why their demands had become essential due to the nation's growing cost of living.
They said that the constant increases in the cost of fuel, commodities, and services had rendered the four and seven percent pay increases from the previous year irrelevant.