Strike Could End Soon as Labour Minister Makes Fresh Revelation After Meeting Teacher Unions

Labour Minister Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum has expressed confidence that negotiations between the government and striking teacher unions will produce a resolution, ruling out the need for alternative interventions to return teachers to the classroom.

The Minister gave the assurance on Friday, October 9, following an emergency meeting with representatives of the three teacher unions as efforts intensified to resolve the ongoing industrial dispute.

The strike, which began on September 25, has disrupted teaching and learning in public pre-tertiary schools across the country.

The unions are demanding the payment of outstanding promotion arrears, progress on conditions of service and the resolution of other employment-related concerns.

Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Agyekum described the discussions as productive and expressed optimism that the parties could reach an agreement before the end of the day.

“We’ve just finished with the teacher unions. It’s been a very positive meeting, and I strongly believe that by the close of the day we should be able to have a solution to this industrial action,” he said.

He indicated that the negotiations had focused on three major issues: the Collective Agreement, outstanding concerns surrounding teachers’ promotions and the payment of allowances for teachers working in deprived areas.

According to the Labour Minister, the parties had made considerable progress in discussing the unresolved matters, raising hopes that a mutually acceptable solution could be reached to end the strike.

Agyekum also rejected suggestions that the government might resort to other measures to compel teachers to return to work if negotiations failed to produce an agreement.

He maintained that the progress achieved during the meeting provided sufficient grounds to pursue a resolution through dialogue rather than more forceful action.

The industrial action began on September 25 after the government failed to address the unions’ concerns by their September 24 deadline.

The three unions have identified the payment of outstanding promotion-related arrears, progress towards a new Collective Agreement and the implementation of the Deprived Area Allowance as key demands requiring urgent attention.

Source: https://www.adomonline.com/labour-minister-hopeful-talks-will-end-teachers-strike/

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