Teacher unions declare strike over Cost-of Living-Allowance

The Ghana National Association of Teachers, National Association of Graduate Teachers, Coalition of Concerned Teachers Ghana and the Teachers and Educational Workers Union have effective today, Monday, June 4, 2021, commenced a nationwide strike action.

The strike according to the leadership of the Teacher Unions, is a result of the failure of government to meet their demand for a 20% Cost of Living Allowance.

“We have been compelled under the current circumstances to publicly communicate to Ghanaians on our intention to go on strike having gone passed the June 30, 2022 deadline we gave government for the payment of Cost-of-Living-Allowance. Consequently, we have decided to embark on a Strike Action, effective today, Monday, July 4, 2022.

“By this, we are informing the general public that, we are withdrawing all our services in all the Pre-tertiary educational space. (Teaching & Non-Teaching Staff),” the group stated in a press release.

As outlined in their release, the teacher unions say their demand for COLA has been influenced by high inflation leading to incessant increment in prices of fuel, goods and services.

The strike action by the teacher unions has been confirmed to GhanaWeb by the General Secretary of GNAT, Thomas Tanko Musah.

The strike comes as a pile-on to the pressure on the government of Ghana which has been battling with a worsening economic crisis.

The government through the Ministry of Information on Friday, June 1, 2022, announced a decision to seek a bailout from the IMF to mitigate current economic challenges facing the country.