Pre tertiary level teacher unions across the country have called off their almost two-week strike action after accepting a 15 percent Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) from the government.
This decision was taken after three days of negotiations between the government represented by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), Ministry of Finance, Education, Employment and Labour Relations (MELR) hereby referred to as the employer and the organised labour comprising several identifiable workers unions and associations within the public service sector.
At the end of the negotiations, organised labour inclusive of striking teacher unions agreed to a 15 percent COLA instead of the initial 20 percent proposed by the Union. Per the agreement, payment would be made effective from July 1, 2022.
The terms of the agreement under which the teacher unions called off the strike after the government and the labour unions’ resolution are that COLA will be paid at a rate of 15 percent of base pay, that the effective date for payment of COLA is 1st July 2022, and thirdly that all industrial actions underway and all threats of same would be called off immediately and that labour will return to work forthwith.
At a press briefing Thursday evening, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour Awuah said: “At the end of the negotiations we came up with a common communique.
The communique was signed by Ignatius Baffour Awuah, the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, Dr Yaw Baah for Trade Union Congress (TUC), Benjamin Arthur for the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), and Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo, President of Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association (GRNMA).”
It would be recalled that a meeting between both parties on Tuesday was adjourned due to the refusal of some labour unions to call off their strike before negotiations commence and the government’s representatives who also insisted that they have to do so. However, both parties later came to a common understanding which led to this fruitful outcome.
The leadership of the various striking teacher unions have therefore issued a communique to their members to resume work forthwith.
