The Northern Region Chapter of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) Ghana has threatened to lay down their tools on July 5 if at the end of June 2022 the government fails to grant the Cost of Living Allowance, CoLA, to its members.
“We have come to our wits end; we can no longer bear the pain. We therefore demand of our national leadership that, if at the end of June, 2022, our CoLA is not heeded to, they have no option but to pay heed to the clarion call of our members to LAY DOWN OUR TOOLS.”
The NAGRAT Northern Region Chairman, Mr. Abdulai Seidu Gong, has said the rising cost of goods and services in the country is greatly affecting its members and their livelihood continuous to deteriorate in the difficult economic condition.
“Prices of fuel, goods and services continue to rise by the day, the introduction of new taxes has worsened the already bad situation – yet the teacher’s salary remains the same. Between January and now, fuel prices have increased by over 50 percent. The teacher today is virtually living on ‘life support’” he emphasized.
Mr. Abdulai told Journalists on Wednesday (June 22, 2022) at a news conference that in the face of these challenges, Labour Union pleaded with the government to cushion the Ghanaian worker by granting Cost of Living Allowance to help mitigate the mass suffering of the public sector workers.
He said the Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress on 2022 May made a special request to the government to grant the Cost of Living Allowance of at least 20 percent to all public service workers after NAGRAT, GNAT, CCT and TEWU had made similar requests in November 2021.
“Again, on 7th June, 2022, the Vice President of NAGRAT, Mr Jacob Anaba, in a press conference, requested that the government grant workers CoLA of at least 20 percent to ameliorate the hardship that the Ghanaian worker is facing. Let no one takes the coincidence of the 20 percent for granted.”
In view of this, the NAGRAT Chairman believes sadly that the government has not shown great insensitivity to their plight and they can no longer sit unconcerned.
