NLC directs teachers to call off strike *But TEWU joins action (Thursday, March 21, 2013, Front)

The National Labour Commission (NLC) has directed the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) and teacher unions to return to the negotiation table to resolve any issues which have prompted the strike by teachers.

It has also asked teachers to go back to the classroom as the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the FWSC continue to make efforts to find solutions to teachers’ grievances.

It is not immediately clear whether the teachers will heed the NLC directive.  

But while the tango continues, the Teacher and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) has also joined the strike.

Attempts by the Daily Graphic to speak to leaders of the teacher unions did not yield any response.

When the Daily Graphic reached Mr Benjamin K. Osei, the Head of Salaries and Terms of Condition at GNAT, he said, “I will not comment on it.”

However, speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Head of Public Affairs at the FWSC, Mr Earl Ankrah, was optimistic that teachers would return to the classroom. 

He said while the leadership of teacher unions did not state emphatically whether they go back to the classroom or not, the NLC had given its directive which must be respected by all parties. 

According to Mr Ankrah, the commission had initiated discussions with the two bodies before they withdrew their services.

“It was a total surprise to us that they went on strike. The best place to deal with the issue is at the table and not on the streets,” he added.

The leadership of GNAT and NAGRAT last Friday declared that members would withdraw their services from Monday, March 18 until their concerns were addressed.

Other concerns are the non-payment of vehicle maintenance allowance from 2012 till date and delays in resolving outstanding issues related to promotions. 

The teachers are also dissatisfied with the fact that the FWSC had questioned the legal status of the GES management to negotiate the proposals in the collective agreement with GNAT and NAGRAT, in spite of the fact that the NLC had directed the GES to do so.

In some senior high schools (SHS) in Accra visited by the Daily Graphic yesterday, end-of-term examinations had started, in spite of the ongoing strike by teachers across the country.

The strike notwithstanding, all final-year Visual Art students in the SHSs the Daily Graphic visited were writing their practical papers in their West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

But the story was different  in basic schools, some of which were either locked up or the teachers failed to turn up.

At the Osu Presbyterian SHS, while some final-year students were in class, others were writing their WASSCE Visual Art practicals. 

As of 1:10 p.m. students in forms one and two had closed. 

At the Labone SHS, almost all the classrooms were empty, but a member of staff said some of the teachers had come earlier in the day to supervise end-of-term examination. 

The Visual Art students were also busy writing their WASSCE.

At the St Thomas Aquinas SHS, only a few students were spotted on the compound. Forms four and three WASSCE candidates writing their Visual Art paper were, however, busy.

One of the teachers told the Daily Graphic that the end-of-term examination was supposed to start on Tuesday but it had to be cancelled because of the strike. 

He said the Visual Art students were being supervised by external invigilators. 

Frustrated pupils of the Kanda Junior High School and the Accra New Town Cluster of Schools returned home after realising that none of their teachers had shown up in the school.

 But at the St Peter’s Anglican Basic School in Nungua, teachers who turned up were teaching.

Meanwhile, the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) has joined  the nationwide strike by teachers to press home their demand for better working conditions, writes Sebastian Syme.

That was the outcome of a management committee meeting TEWU held yesterday to join teachers in first and second-cycle schools to embark on the strike.

The President of TEWU, Mr Peter Lumor, said the FWSC had not shown good faith in its dealing with TEWU and further wondered why TEWU was left out of a meeting organised between the NLC, on the one hand, and GNAT and NAGRAT, on the other.

Mr Lumor added that at a meeting held at the instance of organised labour recently, TEWU raised its concerns with respect to working conditions and accused the FWSC of refusing to respond to a letter the NLC had sent to it concerning some outstanding matters the union had with the commission. 

But the Head of Public Affairs at the FWSC expressed surprise at the decision of TEWU to join the strike and said the teachers were expected to return to the classroom following a directive the NLC had issued to NAGRAT and GNAT.