The deputy general secretary of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Micheal Ayuraboah has said government has turned its back on teacher unions and left them to their faith over the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).
Speaking on ‘the Pulse’ on Joy News today, he indicated that, government is responsible for ensuring the economic well-being of teachers.
He however noted that the posture of Akufo-Addo’s government shows otherwise.
“On the contrary, the government is being insensitive to us. Why? The government pushed down our throats and to the embarrassment of leadership, in 2020, negotiating salaries for 2021/2022 4% and 7% respectively, that was quite embarrassing for leadership, but we had to take it yet nothing has changed in the powers that be in terms of how we manage this country and how expenses have been like. In fact, they are responsible under Article 36 of our constitution to ensure that our economic well-being is good. If inflation today, is at 27.6% and beyond what do you expect of the Ghanaian?” he stated.
He added that government’s constant blame on the Russian-Ukraine war cannot be an excuse to shun its responsibility since conversations on COLA began in 2020.
“I don’t think there was war in Ukraine and Russia in 2020, but we took the 4%. I don’t think there was war in Ukraine in 2021 so why are we using that as an excuse? In fact, the last time I checked, I’m not sure how in terms of the kind of food that we eat, when you check the food inflation wheat and all the things that come from Russia is not what we talk about. I still remember very well how the Agric Minister was telling us that banana and plantain was so cheap in this country. Maize and the rest that’s what we eat and rice. As far as I know, they don’t come from Ukraine. All we want is that we know that fuel prices have increased, we know that foodstuff and goods and services have increased and our salary has remained same,” he bemoaned.
The Coalition for Teacher Unions today declared an indefinite strike action over unpaid allowances.
