Call off strike immediately: Court orders three Teacher Unions

The Industrial and Labour Court (High Court Division) has ordered the three Teacher Unions to immediately call off their strike over the payment of Legacy Arrears.

The three unions, whose members are under the Ghana Education Service, are the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT).

They should also comply with the directives of the National Labour Commission, dated on December 5 2019, which invited them to appear before it.

The Court, presided over by Mrs Justice Ananda J.Aikins said: “It is hereby ordered that the respondents herein, whether by themselves, their executives, officers, members, agents, servants, employees or other persons, are to comply with directives of the National Labour Commission dated on December 5, 2019.

“It is further ordered that the respondents are restrained from further continuing any strike action.”

The Court said the order shall remain for a period of 10 days after which same might be repeated on notice.

The order follows an order of interlocutory injunction secured by the National Labour commission against the unions.

A statement signed by Mr Andy Kwabena Asamoah, the Chairman of the NLC, and copied to the Ghana News Agency, in Accra said: “On December 5, this year, NLC invited the representatives of Ghana Education Service (GES), Ministry of Education and Fair Wages and Salary Commission, NAGRAT, GNAT and Coalition of Concerned Teachers CCT to appear before it to resolve the impasse relating to legacy Arrears’ of the said three Unions, which had culminated in a threat of strike.

“The Unions failed to appear before the Commission and to call off their threatened strike which was to take effect from the 9th of December this year. Having disobeyed the directive of the NLC issued together with its letter summoning the parties to appear before it on the 10th of December 2019."

The NLC then proceeded to Court for an order of interlocutory injunction against the three unions.

The strike, which took effect on Monday, December 9, has seen more than 300,000 member s of the Unions boycotting academic work leaving their students in pre-tertiary public schools stranded.

The action is to back home their demand for the full payment of salary arrears accumulated between 2012 and 2016 to some of their members.

The GES has said it had paid more than 80,000 of the over 100,000 beneficiaries and would pay the rest by the Christmas break after completing a vetting process to clear it of some anomalies.