FWSC criticizes 3 teacher unions for failing to comply with labour laws

The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) has criticized the leadership of the three teacher unions currently on strike for failing to comply with the country’s labour laws before embarking on industrial action.

The three teacher unions are the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers-Ghana (CCT-GH).

The Chief Executive for FWSC, Benjamin Arthur in an interview, revealed that the nationwide strike by the teacher unions was declared without any relevant notice to key stakeholders including the FWSC and the National Labour Commission.

According to him, the leadership of these unions had not followed the necessary protocols before declaring the strike.

“The leadership of GNAT, NAGRAT, and CCT-GH failed to notify the employer, Fair Wages, and Salaries Commission was not in the known, what was statutory of you to notify the National Labour Commission was also not done, and then all of a sudden, we’re ambushed, everybody is surprised,” he said on JoyNews’ PM Express.

“How do we govern this country?” he quizzed further.

The three pre-tertiary teacher unions declared a nationwide strike on Wednesday, March 20, 2024.

The strike is due to the Ministry of Education, and the Ghana Education Service’s delay in addressing their conditions of service. They stated that the negotiation of a new collective agreement should have been completed on or before February 29, 2024, but that was not done as requested.