President of the Ghana National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Angel Carbonou, has disclosed that striking teacher unions have been asked to call off their industrial action.
According to him, it is vital for the strike to be called off after the National Labour Commission (NLC) secured a restraining order from the court against them on Friday, November 11.
Speaking to the media today, November 11, 2022, he stated that the unions “can’t disrespect the court order”. To that end, he indicated that all members of the unions are to resume work on Monday.
“We are law abiding citizens, we have decided to obey the orders of the court and have asked our members to call off the strike and to go back to the classrooms, and also ensure that the directive that the Labour Commission is giving, we will engage the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relation and report to the Labour Commission on the 16th.
Angel Carbonu
Mr Carbonu explained that regarding the issues that led to the strike in the first place, the various unions are determined to express their grievances during their engagement with the Ministry of Education.
NLC secures restraining order from court
The decision to call off the strike was informed by the restraining order secured by the National Labour Commission (NLC) against the strike by members of the National Association of Graduate Teachers, the Ghana National Association of Teachers, and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers.
The NLC secured the order at the Labour Court 2, presided over by Justice Ananda Aikins on Friday, November 11, 2022.
The unions, who have been on strike since Friday, November 4, are demanding the withdrawal of the appointment of Dr. Eric Nkansah as Director General of the Ghana Education Service.
Meetings held by the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations with the unions have ended inconclusively.
On Monday, November 7, the leadership of the unions asked their members to continue staying at home because their meeting with the government ended inconclusively. President of the Ghana National Association of Teachers, Rev Isaac Owusu, expressed optimism after the first day of the meeting.
He stated that they would report to their members on the meeting outcome as they await the next meeting. Rev. Owusu stressed that they were hopeful that their concerns would be considered.
On his part, the Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Mr Bright Wireko-Brobbey, highlighted that the Ministry was hopeful that the matter would be settled amicably. He urged the Unions to call off the strike as they engage. GNAT, NAGRAT and CCT declared strike over the appointment of Dr Eric Nkansah as the new Director General of the Ghana Education (GES).
It will be recalled that the teachers’ unions declared the industrial action on Friday, November 4, 2022. The industrial action commenced after the expiration of an ultimatum the Unions gave government to rescind its decision on the appointment of the new Director-General of the Ghana Education Service.
All Teachers Alliance Ghana (ATAG) on the other hand, has criticized and challenged the basis and merits for which the unions initiated the strike.
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