…. But NAGRAT insists offer falls short
The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) has attributed the stalemate in negotiations with striking pre-tertiary teacher unions to disagreements over the scope of the talks, particularly the unions’ demand to introduce a new allowance.
The Chief Executive Officer of the FWSC, Dr George Smith-Graham, said the Commission’s current transitional arrangement only permits unions whose conditions of service have expired to review and enhance existing allowances, rather than undertake comprehensive negotiations or introduce new ones.
Speaking on Eyewitness yesterday, Tuesday, October 6, 2026, Dr Smith-Graham said the teacher unions were seeking to go beyond the limits of the transitional framework.
“The transitional arrangement is that the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission is in transition, and so within this transitional arrangement there should be no holistic negotiations on conditions of service.”
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He explained that under the arrangement, unions were expected to identify existing allowances and negotiate improvements to them.
“They are supposed to be identifying allowances within the unions whose conditions of service have expired and enhance them, but they are looking at it differently. They want even the introduction of a new allowance, and that is what we are discussing,” he said.
The comments come as the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the Pre-Tertiary Teachers’ Association of Ghana (PRETAG) continue their strike over concerns about their conditions of service, promotion and deprived-area allowance.
The unions declared the strike on September 25 and directed pre-tertiary teachers to withdraw their services until their concerns are addressed.
Despite the disagreement, Dr Smith-Graham said the FWSC remained prepared to engage the unions to find common ground.
He said the unions had a mandate from their members to pursue their demands, making it necessary for the Commission to continue engaging them despite differences over the scope of the negotiations.
“It’s a mandate the rank and file has given to them, so we have no choice but to engage them and let them know that this is the situation,” he said.
Dr Smith-Graham also rejected suggestions that the FWSC had entered the negotiations without the requisite mandate from the Finance Minister.
“Absolutely not,” he said, insisting that he had been given a mandate by the Finance Minister since January.
According to him, the Commission had successfully negotiated with 59 unions and organisations this year, with many of the negotiations being concluded within a few hours.
Asked why the discussions with the teacher unions had proved more difficult, he attributed the impasse to their insistence on moving beyond the transitional framework.
“It is a struggle because maybe, to put it bluntly, they are trying to go out from the transitional arrangement that we have. That is what is bringing about the change,” he said.
Dr Smith-Graham said the FWSC was hopeful of resolving the matter soon.
“I want to finish this negotiation before the end of the week,” he said.
However, NAGRAT President, Jacob Anaba, has offered a different account of the latest negotiations, saying the FWSC’s proposal fell significantly short of the unions’ expectations.
Mr Anaba said the proposal presented by the Commission did not adequately address the concerns raised by the unions, leaving the negotiations inconclusive.
Speaking on Eyewitness News yesterday, responded that the FWSC had entered the meeting with a mandate to negotiate only two of the three allowance-related issues tabled by the unions.
Although he declined to disclose the specific figures discussed, Mr Anaba said the offer made by the Commission was far below what the unions were demanding.
He described the gap between the FWSC’s proposal and the unions’ expectations as “very, very far”.
He also said the third item on the unions’ agenda which the FWSC considered a new allowance had not formed part of the Commission’s original mandate.
“The figure they gave to us was not what we were asking for. That is why they needed to go back. In fact, they came with the mandate to negotiate for just two items. The third item is a new one, and they did not add that to what they came with. So we indicated that that should also be considered,” he said.
Mr Anaba said the unions were therefore waiting for the FWSC to secure a fresh mandate before negotiations could resume.
He said should the Commission obtain the necessary mandate and invite the unions back to the negotiating table, they would be prepared to continue discussions.
The development leaves the two sides at odds over whether the proposed new allowance can be accommodated within the FWSC’s transitional arrangement, even as government seeks to resolve the dispute within the week.
The strike by NAGRAT, GNAT and PRETAG has disrupted teaching and learning in pre-tertiary schools across the country, with the unions maintaining that their demands must be addressed before they return to the classroom.
