Biased NLC now spokesperson for government – Teachers

The Chairman of the Concerned Teachers Association, Mr Adokwei Awulley, has said that the National Labour Commission has been partisan in dealing with teachers in the country.

In an interview on Ghana Yensom on Accra 100.5 FM, Mr Awulley said the NLC is behaving as a spokesperson for the government rather than serving the interest of Ghanaian workers.

The NLC has declared the ongoing strike by the Ghana National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT-Gh) as illegal.

The NLC has, therefore, asked the unions to return to the classroom.

NAGRAT, GNAT and CCT-Gh began the nationwide strike on Monday, 9 December.

The three unions’ industrial action is in connection with the failure of the government to pay their legacy arrears.

They made the joint announcement of their strike at a press conference held in Accra on Thursday, 5 December 2019.

According to the unions, the arrears date as far back as 2012 to 2016.

Instructing them to return to work, the NLC, in a statement on Tuesday, 10 December 2019 signed by its Chair Andy Kwabena Asamoah, said: “The National Labour Commission on Tuesday, the 10th of December 2019, met the representatives of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Ministry of Education and Fair Wages and Salaries Commission but the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) were absent.

“The Commission, after hearing the Ghana Education Service on the matter, observed as follows: NAGRAT, GNAT AND CCT-Gh failed to notify the NLC and its employer of the ongoing nationwide strike in contravention of Section 159 of the Labour Act 2003, Act 651; that the Commission, in exercise of the authority conferred on it by section 139 (1) (b) of Act 651, finds the associations’ actions in violation of Act 651 and, therefore, the ongoing strike of the unions is illegal; that the teacher unions call off the strike immediately and return to work.”

But Mr Awulley told show host Kwabenae Prah Jnr (The Don) that “the Labour Commission was biased in dealing with us.”