NAGRAT and GNAT withdraw from discussions; teachers' strike continues
Due to their demand for a cost-of-living allowance, representatives of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the National Graduate Association of Teachers (NAGRAT) have left negotiations with the government (COLA).
The government asked the two groups to end their strike before discussions, which the associations viewed as a violation of trust.
The government side is not prepared to restart talks unless the teacher unions call off the strike, which is what they are saying when they urge us to end our strike before negotiations start. It is a breach of trust that they have kept the whole organised labour movement hostage.
Before they even lead us out of the meeting because they find us unattractive, we are now leaving on our own. Tuesday's media briefing was given by NAGRAT President Angel Carbonu.
The meeting is now suspended till further notice.
Bright Wereko-Brobbey, the deputy minister of employment and labour relations, claimed that the reason for the adjournment was because some labour unions would not end their strike before talks began.
Because both the administration and labour believe that we cannot accomplish this while one of the parties is on strike, we were forced to adjourn the meeting. It has been decided that we will go off to speak with each other. He said to Joy News, "They call off the strike, and we meet up again.
Along with other government representatives, Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister, and Bright Wereko-Brobbey, the Deputy Minister of Employment and Labor Relations, attended the the conference.
He mentioned that the meeting will be held again later in the week to continue the discussions.
This is the second time that talks between the teacher unions and the administration have stalled without a resolution. Since last Tuesday, teachers have been on strike.