The Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) has directed all its members to resume work until further instructions from the national secretariat. A letter to all national executive members and regional secretaries of GNAT signed by Mrs. Irene Duncan-Adanusa, General Secretary, GNAT, said the directive followed an ultimatum issued by National Labour Commission (NLC) to the Ghana Education Service (GES) and GNAT to go back to the negotiation table and complete all matters related to the Collective Agreement by December 28. "We are by this letter informing you about the decision and directing that our members are informed about the decision. Meanwhile, members are being advised to resume normal work till further directives are received from the National Secretariat," the letter dated December 14 said. The NLC after a meeting on Monday with the GES and GNAT asked the Standing Joint Negotiating Committee of the GES and GNAT to negotiate all outstanding issues concerning the Collective Agreement of teachers within two weeks. GNAT on December 9 asked all its members to embark on a sit-down strike from December 14. The association had expressed disgust at the undue delay in the negotiations between the GES and members of GNAT and National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) over negotiations for their Collective Bargaining Agreement, which started in 2006. It said: "Considering recent happenings in the GES and Management's responses to issues on employee conditions of employment, GNAT wishes to state that it no longer has confidence in the capacity, intentions and sincerity of Management to conclude negotiations on the Collective Agreement." The reasons cited for the strike action included non-upward review of supervision allowances for teachers, lack of support for teachers on distance education programmes and allowances for teachers in deprived areas. The rest were the non-payment of professional allowances for certified teachers, special allowances for teachers of science, mathematics, ICT, technical and vocational subjects and lack of confidence in the promotional interview panel of the GES for GNAT members. The strike call, which lasted for only one day, received mixed response, as some teachers continued with their end-of-term examinations while others threw their weight behind the strike. Source: GNA