Obuasi, March 16, GNA - A call has been made to the leadership of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) to team up with the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) in the struggle for improved condition of service for teachers in the country. Mr Frank Osei-Kwarteng, Obuasi Municipal GNAT Secretary, who made the call, stressed: "There is the need for team work and togetherness between the two bodies when it comes to fighting for improved condition of service since we are all under the same employer". "We need one voice when it comes to pressing home for the demands of teachers", Mr Osei-Kwarteng emphasised.
Mr Osei-Kwarteng, who was speaking to the press at Obuasi on Wednesday on the government's new minimum wage, asked teachers to exercise patience since the leadership of the GNAT was going to negotiate with the Central Management Board (CMB) for a living wage for teachers. He explained that GNAT had no problem with NAGRAT except that they seemed not to understand why the GNAT had the bargaining certificate. The Municipal GNAT Secretary, who has additional responsibility in the Adansi North District, said there was the need for all levels of teacher organisations to be abreast with the new Labour Act since it had come to stay. He said knowledge on the Act would enable teachers to appreciate what it meant by collective agreement, negotiations and settlement as well as strike actions by unionised workers.
Mr Osei-Kwarteng announced that a workshop would be organised to sensitise teachers on the new Labour Act. He asked teachers to strive to improve their output and to patronise the Association's Credit Mall, a company that supplies teachers with goods and facilities to end the exploitation by hire purchase companies.
