Fair Wages and Salaries Commission begins crunch talks with teacher unions today over expired conditions of service as strike enters week 2

Story By: Deborah Adorsu

Negotiations are currently underway at the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) over the Conditions of Service for pre-tertiary teacher unions, as the government intensifies efforts to end the ongoing nationwide strike.

The high-level meeting, scheduled for today Tuesday, October 6, 2026, brings together the Ministry of Education, the Ghana Education Service (GES) and leadership of the three striking pre-tertiary teacher unions – the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), and the Pre-Tertiary Teachers Association of Ghana (PRETAG).

The talks follow an invitation by the Chief Executive of the FWSC, after an earlier engagement last Friday between the government and the unions led by Education Minister, Haruna Iddrisu.

Focus of Negotiations:According to the Education Minister, the core of today’s negotiation is the renewal of the teachers’ expired Collective Agreement, also referred to as their Conditions of Service, which the unions say should have been concluded by June 2026.

The teacher unions declared a nationwide strike on September 25, 2026, citing three major unresolved issues:Delay in negotiating a new Collective Agreement.

Failure to automatically place over 80,000 teachers who passed promotion exams in December 2025 and February 2026 onto their appropriate salary scales, with arrears effective January 2026.

Non-implementation of the 20 percent Deprived/Rural Area Allowance.

Mr. Iddrisu has expressed optimism that the negotiations will be concluded within a week, stating that similar engagements have been undertaken with other organized labour groups in the same spirit.

Government has also constituted a validation committee chaired by the Ministry of Employment and Labour to validate data for the implementation of the 20% allowance, with representation from the teacher unions.

The government says it remains committed to rolling out the allowance effective January 2027, subject to validation.

Meanwhile, the government has appealed to the unions to suspend the strike and return to the classroom while negotiations continue, but the unions, particularly GNAT, insist the industrial action will continue until tangible commitments are made.

Teaching and learning remain grounded in public pre-tertiary schools across the country as the talks continue.