OPEN NEGOTIATIONS FOR LIVING WAGES — AFEDO (PAGE 44)

Story: Vincent Adedze, Tamale

THE Northern Regional Branch of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has asked the government to open negotiations for “living wages” for its members in the face of the high cost of living in the country.
“The outcome of the negotiations will cushion workers against the recent increase in electricity tariffs. We expect the government to put in place measures to cushion teachers against the hardships brought about by escalating utility tariffs and transportation cost and their adverse effects on cost of living,” the association further stressed.
The Northern Regional Chairman of NAGRAT, Mr Lordson Afedo, stated this at a press conference in Tamale held to discuss current happenings on the labour front regarding salary negotiations with the government.
He expressed regret at the government’s “failure to fulfil its own desire of implementing a single spine salary structure for this year”.
The chairman also called on the government to “defreeze our withheld October 2006 salaries. If some teachers who were also on strike at that time had their salaries paid to them, then there is absolutely no justification for holding onto the position taken by the Ghana Education Service Council (GESC)”.
Mr Afedo further alleged that the government had “deliberately shifted the annual incremental jump from September to January to coincide with the beginning of the year”.
“For now, what we take home is a far cry from reality. Our take-home pay cannot take us home; salaries dwindle with each passing month and no teacher at the moment can tell his or her net salary,” he pointed out.
He observed that “sacrifices made by teachers seem to have gone unappreciated, largely because of the perception that the teacher’s reward is in heaven”.
The chairman stressed the need for the government to pay living wages to teachers “to remove the discontent that has come to be associated with teachers in the GES”.
“We also call on the government to tell workers how far it had gone with its pay reform policy and when they should expect the new pay structure to become operational to ease pressure on labour unions by their members,” he further stated.
Mr Afedo expressed concern over the inability of the consultant contracted by the government to look into the salaries of government employees to complete her work on schedule.
The former Regional Chairman of NAGRAT, Mr Mahama Andani, noted that the salaries of graduate teachers had, over the years, appreciated not because of the benevolence of the government but because of the commitment and resilience of the leadership of NAGRAT in championing the cause of its members.
Five former executives of NAGRAT were honoured for their contribution to the growth of the association in the Northern Region.