GNAT Orders Sit-Down Strike

The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has advised teachers to embark on a sit-down strike effective Monday, December 14. This is contained in a letter signed by Mrs Irene Duncan-Adanusa, General-Secretary of GNAT, and addressed to the Director-General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), copied to the Minister for Education. The letter raised six key issues including upward review of supervision allowances, support for teachers on distance education programmes and interviews for promotion in the GES which GNAT expressed displeasure about the way they are being handled by the GES management. Others are allowances for teachers in deprived or difficult areas, professional allowances for certificated teachers and specially allowances for teachers of science, mathematics, ICT and technical/vocational subjects�. GNAT wishes to state that it no longer has confidence in the capacity, intentions and sincerity of management to conclude negotiations on the collective agreement GNAT�s intentions to work within the rules of labour relations have been consistently frustrated by the attitude of the employer,� the letter said. �Against this backdrop and considering the current level of frustrated, the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) is advising teachers to go to school and sit down with effect from Monday, 14th December, 2009 till the issues of negotiations on the collective agreement are concluded� it added and hoped that the employer would find the necessary clout to deal with the situation before it got out of hand.