Teacher strike: FWSC blames new allowance demand for deadlock with teacher unions
The Chief Executive Officer of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), Dr George Smith-Graham, says that negotiations between the commission and the striking pre-tertiary teacher unions have stalled over a demand for the introduction of a new allowance.
Dr George Smith-Graham, CEO of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), stated that negotiations between the commission and three pre-tertiary teacher unions have reached a standstill due to a demand for a new allowance. Dr Smith-Graham explained that under the transitional arrangement in which Ghana is currently operating, unions whose conditions of service have expired are only supposed to focus on improving existing allowances, not negotiate for new conditions of service.
The demand for a new allowance has become a significant point of contention in the negotiations, as the unions want to introduce a new allowance while the FWSC argues that they should enhance allowances within the unions whose conditions of service have expired. The impasse occurred during a meeting between the FWSC, the Ghana Education Service, and the three unions, which ended without an agreement.
The unions have indicated that the strike will continue until their concerns are addressed. Dr Smith-Graham emphasized that the FWSC remains committed to engaging the unions, despite the disagreement over the scope of the negotiations, and stated that he has received a mandate from the Finance Minister since January to carry out these negotiations.
Written by urgent.news from MyJoyOnline Ghana's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
