Teachers’ Strike: NAGRAT Refuses to Return to Classroom Until Demands Are Met

The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has said its members will not return to the classroom until the government reaches a concrete agreement with the union on their outstanding demands.

NAGRAT President Jacob Anaba said the strike was triggered by three major concerns: the expired collective agreement, deprived-area allowance and challenges surrounding teacher promotions.

According to him, organised labour has engaged the government on the issues, but the discussions have so far failed to produce an agreement acceptable to the teachers.

“Our collective agreement expired since June, we have deprived area allowance and the teacher promotional issues. We’ve spoken to government and our cries are not being heard,” he said.

Speaking in an interview, Mr Anaba said a meeting with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission ended without an agreement.

He explained that both sides presented proposals during the meeting, after which NAGRAT submitted a counter-proposal.

“Our meeting with Fair Wages today was inconclusive. They made a proposal and we made a counter-proposal, so they said they are going back for a mandate to be able to meet us again,” he said.

Mr Anaba said the union is now waiting for the government to invite them for another round of negotiations.

He stressed that teachers would remain on strike until the outstanding issues are fully negotiated and a concrete agreement is reached.

“Until we have concluded the negotiations and gotten something concrete on the table, we won’t go back to school,” he stated.

On teacher promotions, Mr Anaba claimed the process had previously been smooth but said challenges emerged after the National Democratic Congress (NDC) returned to power.

“Our promotions have been smooth until the NDC government returned to power,” he said.