Govt urges unions to suspend strike, pledges to resolve outstanding issues

The government has appealed to pre-tertiary teacher unions to suspend their ongoing industrial action while negotiations continue to resolve their outstanding concerns.

The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, made the appeal on behalf of the government during a meeting with the unions in Accra yesterday, following their decision to embark on a nationwide strike last Friday.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Mr. Iddrisu said the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) would meet with the unions on Tuesday to resume discussions on their collective agreement and conditions of service.

Key Concerns

Three pre-tertiary teacher unions are currently on strike over what they describe as the government’s failure to address outstanding issues relating to promotion allowances and salary arrears.

In a joint statement dated September 25, 2026, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG) outlined three major concerns.

These include delays in negotiating a new Collective Agreement, the failure to automatically place newly promoted teachers on the appropriate salary scales, and the non-implementation of the Deprived Area Allowance.

According to the unions, the existing Collective Agreement has expired, while negotiations for a new agreement, which they expected to have been concluded by June 2026, remain unresolved.

They said the issue had been raised with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission on several occasions but had yet to be settled.

The unions are also demanding the automatic placement of teachers who successfully passed promotion examinations in December 2025 and February 2026 onto their appropriate salary scales, together with the payment of arrears dating back to January 2026.

Government’s Response

Providing an update on steps taken to address the concerns, Mr. Iddrisu said the government had established a validation committee, chaired by the Minister of Employment and Labour, to verify data relating to the government’s commitment to implement the 20 per cent rural deprived-area allowance.

He said the government remained committed to introducing the allowance from January 2027, subject to the validation of the relevant data and the development of a clear implementation roadmap, with representation from the teacher unions.

On the issue of salary adjustments following promotions, the Minister said the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES) would work with the Controller and Accountant-General’s Department to update the necessary data and facilitate the payment of salaries at the appropriate grades.

Work on Promotion Arrears

Mr. Iddrisu said the Director-General of the GES had been directed to work through the weekend to ensure that data covering nearly 80,000 affected teachers was compiled and validated.

He said the ministry currently had data on about 29,000 teachers with outstanding arrears, although September salaries had already been processed.

“We can’t walk back the process,” he said, adding that the Controller and Accountant-General would work to implement the adjustments in October and settle any resulting supplementary arrears.

Mr. Iddrisu said the government negotiating team, led by the Minister for Employment and Labour and supported by the Ministry of Education, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, the Controller and Accountant-General and the Director-General of the GES, had held open discussions with the unions regarding the industrial action.

Unions Demand Concrete Action

Despite the government’s assurances, the unions remained unwilling to call off the strike, insisting that they needed tangible evidence of progress before suspending the action.

The Head of Salaries at GNAT, Isaac Nii Baah, said the unions had heard similar assurances in the past.

“It has been the old story of promises upon promises,” he said, stressing that the unions were now seeking concrete action rather than further commitments.

“We want action,” he added.

Mr. Baah said teachers would remain at home until the unions could confirm that the outstanding salaries and arrears had been reflected on teachers’ payslips and credited to their accounts.

The Vice-President of PRETAG, Addokwei Ayikwei Awulley, also said there had been little progress on the three key concerns.

He said the government had provided new timelines on the promotion issue, while there had been no significant progress on the deprived-area allowance.

Mr. Awulley assured members that the unions had presented all their grievances and would issue further directives once an agreement was reached with the government.