The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) is bent on embarking on its planned nationwide strike over what it deems as the government’s failure to negotiate their conditions of service.
The General Secretary of UTAG, Dr. Eliasu Mumuni, says discussions on base pay, based on market premiums, are the single most important issue that will make them rescind their decision.
Speaking to journalists in Accra, Dr. Mumuni said UTAG members would meet to announce a date for their strike.
“We need that collective permission for membership to say we are behind you, so go ahead. And within this period, we are working on that and prompting the NLC that this is how far we think we can come with the government when it has to do with our conditions of service.”
“So within the period, if they are not able to reach us and we have gone through the formality of engaging all the membership of all the 15 campuses, as well as prompting the Labour Commission, then we are good to go,” he said.
Meanwhile, UTAG and the Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG) on Wednesday walked out of a meeting with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC).
The associations cited the commission’s bad faith, contempt, and lackadaisical attitude towards the discussion of the very important aspects of their conditions of service as reasons.
They stressed that they would no longer countenance the gross disrespect and lack of commitment towards their quest for improvement in their conditions of service.
They insisted that UTAG/TUTAG wouldn’t be part of meetings that do not yield benefits and warned that the voices of university lecturers would be heard soon in the language better understood by the employer or the government.
