The three teacher unions, who declared a nationwide strike on Thursday, December 5, have called off the three-day old strike action.
The decision to call off their action was arrived at on the advice of their lawyers in consequence to the Industrial and Labour Division of the Accra High Court order on Wednesday, December 11.
A statement issued and signed by the General Secretary of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) on behalf of the three unions in Accra yesterday said: “We GNAT, National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and Coalition of Concerned Teachers-Ghana (CCT-Gh) wish to inform all our members that the nationwide strike action which was declared by the three teacher unions on Thursday, December 5, 2019, and its subsequent commencement on Monday, December 9, 2019 has been called off.”
It explained that the decision was arrived at on the advice of their lawyers in consequence to the court order of Wednesday, December 11.
The statement said while it would want to thank all their members for their support and solidarity, it had also advised it lawyers to obtain copies of all the court processes from the court leading to the said order which was not served on them before the order was obtained.
It explained that their next line of action would be communicated to its rank and file in due course.
The teacher unions declared the strike action following the government’s failure to pay their members what they described as Legacy Arrears.
The areas according to them involved salaries and allowances between 2012 and 2016, culminating into over GH₵40million.
However, the Industrial and Labour Division of the Accra High Court, presided over by Justice Ananda J. Aikins, restrained the unions from further continuing with any strike action.
“It is further ordered that this order be for a period of 10 days after which it may be repeated on notice,” the ruling said.
The National Labour Commission (NLC) filed an ex-parte motion against the three teacher unions and urged the court to order the respondents to call off the strike action.
On December 6, 2019, the NLC invited the representatives of Ghana Education Service (GES), Ministry of Education and Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, GNAT, NAGRAT and CCT-GH to a meeting to discuss the impasse relating to ‘Legacy Arrears’ of the said unions which culminated in the declaration of strike.
Having disobeyed the directive of the NLC, the commission went to court to injunct the unions from continuing with the industrial action.
By Times Report
