GNAT unhappy about “misinformation” of teachers

The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) on Tuesday described as “unfortunate” the “misinformation” making the rounds that the Association has come out with a negotiated placement of teachers onto the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS), which is not favourable to teachers.

“The Association wishes to make it clear that this information is a blatant lie as no single association had the power to do a negotiation for placement of teachers with officials of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC),” it said.

This was contained in a statement signed by Mr Peter Tetteh Korda, Public Relations Officer, and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.

According to the statement, the revised negotiated placement of teachers within the Ghana Education Service (GES) on the SSSS was the work of the Joint Negotiating Committee, comprising officials of the FWSC, GES, GNAT, Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) of the Trades Union Congress and the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT).

“The Committee was mandated to re-align the placement of teachers and non-teaching employees of the GES to be in line with the analogous philosophy of the GES. That is what has been used to migrate the teaching and non-teaching staff of the Ghana Education Service onto the SSSS.

“GNAT wishes to further state that there is no truth in the assertion that there were different structures for the teaching personnel on the GES. We have only one unified structure for the teaching, not two, as some teachers have been misled to believe.”

GNAT therefore urged members to contact their district and regional secretaries for clarification on issues pertaining to the new salary structure and others that they did not understand in order to be insulated against untruths that might affect their morale.

The Association also re-assured its members that it was keeping a close eye on the rolling of GES employees onto the SSSS at the end of February 2011 with a view of spotting any anomalies that might arise for the appropriate authorities to be contacted for rectification without delay.

“Meanwhile, GNAT further wishes to inform its numerous members that it has appealed to the Presidency to permit the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to continue paying the Professional Allowance which is the only allowance enjoyed by Professional Teachers in the Public Sector,” it added.

Source: GNA