NAGRAT: "OUR ACTION IS WELL INTENDED"

Story: Benjamin Xornam Glover, Bolgatanga The Upper East Regional Secretary of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), Mr. Michael Ayuraboya Akanvibe has stated that the indefinite strike action declared by the association effective Monday, March 18, 2013 was not meant to jeopardize the future final year students writing the on-going West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) but a struggle to protect the image of the profession and make it attractive for the future generations. NAGRAT, which declared an industrial action effective Monday, March 18, 2013 also warned headmasters and Director of Education not to stand in the way of the teachers serving under them as they embark on the industrial action to press home the unaddressed concerns for the common good of the teaching profession. Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Bolgatanga, Mr. Akanvibe said in spite of several efforts by the leadership of NAGRAT to have the issues solve amicably, government has demonstrated abundantly clearly that it was in no way to ready to meet them to have the issues resolve, hence the industrial action by the teachers. He said the association’s intended strike action in January 2013 was called off following the intervention of the Chief of Staff and Executive secretary to President Mahama. Subsequently an agreement was reached with NAGRAT National Officers at a meeting convened by the Chief of Staff, Mr. Prosper Banini, at the Seat of Government on the 22nd of January 2013. “At that meeting, government requested NAGRAT put on hold any intentions of an industrial action so as to enable it constitute a working group that would resolve all the issues in six weeks,” he noted. He said despite the firm promises that the working group will be constituted and commissioned on February 12, 2013 at 2pm, as at March 13, 2013, when the National Council of NAGRAT met in Accra, the Six weeks requested by government had elapsed, but the Working group had neither been constituted nor commissioned. “Consequently, the issues raised remained unresolved to date. It is abundantly clear that government has no intentions to resolve the concerns. NAGRAT has tried all along to use diplomacy and dialogue to resolve the issues but government has consistently demonstrated bad faith and non-commitment to resolving them” “The longer the issues linger, the more restless our members become. The pressure from the membership of the association has reached its peak. Leadership responded to the needs of the membership which as at now is a call for industrial action,” he said. Enumerating some of their concerns of NAGRAT, Mr. Akanvibe said they included the non-negotiation of Category 2 and 3 allowances for teachers, unilateral freezing of the annual incremental credits for teachers, non-payment of maintenance allowances to teachers for about tow years and refusal of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to re-negotiate retention premium for teachers. Other concerns include the delays in the promotion of teachers, the unilateral decision of GES to freeze the placement of teachers with additional responsibilities in the Single Spine Salary Structure, failure of the GES management to negotiate allowance for the supervision and invigilation of examinations conducted by WAEC and non-generation of pay slips of teachers for some time now. -End- Writer’s email: Benjamin.glover@graphic.co.gh.