Teachers arrears in limbo: GNAT, NAGRAT and CCT-Gh Nine-day Wonders

Late last year, three teacher unions fiercely declared strike of which many teachers obliged.
This happened to be one of the effective strike, as stakeholders were forced to respond to it, because the classrooms were empty.

Midway through the strike, the National Labour Commission (NLC) came to rubbish the move and ordered the three unions by court order to return to the classroom. A ten-day ultimatum indicated that the unions can resume the strike, if their grievances were not met.

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More importantly, the government gave a road map to the payment of these arrears to some 1500 teachers (those validated) on the 19th of December 2019.

We were made to understand that, the strike was illegal and that the government is committed to paying the outstanding arrears, which basically became known as The Legacy Arrears.

For the first time, teachers jumped into commending the unions for such a move, since to many of them, it is the only language the politicians understand.

But unfortunately, the three unions after the showdown, have kept mute on the arrears matters. We don’t even have any information as to whether those validated had been paid or not.

Neither do we have additional information as to the way forward, should our employer refuse to do the right thing.

Many teachers had been thrown into uttermost shock, as to whether the three unions were actually doing the biddings of their members or staging their own agenda (a means to an end).

Perhaps, the legacy arrears meant a different thing other than what teachers were hoping for.

The arrears limbo is a clear indication that the government is not committed to paying the arrears, and the unions are also not ready to remain resolute for their members.

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Well, we can conclude that, these three teacher unions (GNAT, NAGRAT and CCT-GH) actually declared the strike against a hidden background and pretended they are fighting for their members.

The voice of teachers must be heard and heard louder, and we entreat every teacher to join the campaign for shouting for our dignity and respect to redeem the profession from much desperation.

We urge our unions leaders, to go back to the drawing board and to rekindle the hopes of many teachers who are disgruntled because of many years or months of work without salary.

Teachers hope to hear Teacher Unions break the silence now!

Source: Opare Addo Kwabena

TEACHERS VOICES (TV)
ghteachersvoices@gmail.com