We’ll resist attempts to use court action to compel us to call off strike action – Angel Carbonu
Mr Angel Carbonu, President of the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) has once again said that the striking teacher unions will not barge under pressure to get them to return to the classrooms.
He said the teacher unions are determined to continue their industrial action until the government pays them the 20% cost of living allowance.
Mr Carbonu during an interview said that should court action be triggered against the teacher unions to compel them to rescind their strike decision, they will fight to set aside the injunction.
“If they go to court to get an injunction, we will organize, go to court and set that injunction aside. When you go to court ex-parte, you have not allowed the judge to listen to the other group. This time, if they go to court ex-parte, we will ask our legal people the next day to go to court to set that ex-parte injunction aside,” he said.
NAGRAT and three other teacher unions are currently embarking on industrial action and went into a meeting with the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations and other stakeholders on Wednesday, July 6, 2022, over their demands for 20% COLA but the meeting ended inconclusively.
Carbonu said the teacher unions remain committed to engagement with the government to resolve the issue.
“They indicated that they will be inviting us [soon]. We told them if they invite us, we will be there but for now, the strike continues,” he said.
The teachers are fighting for the payment of between 20% and 30% of their salaries as a Cost of Living Allowance. An allowance that according to the teachers will cushion them from current economic conditions and the worsening plight of teachers.
