About four hundred and thirty-three members of the University of Ghana branch of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) have voted in favour of a strike action.
They await the other 14 UTAG campuses to also vote to decide whether or not UTAG in general, should strike over how the government is handling the negotiations of their condition of service.
President of UG UTAG, Professor Ransford Gyampo explained on the Ghana Tonight show on TV3 Monday February 5 that “lecturers of the UG have given a clear message that they want to strike, somewhere last week the NEC of UTAG met and reviewed the over-year negotiation that we have had with the government and the concern that was expressed was that it appears the government is being lackadaisical and not treating us with all the seriousness we deserve at such meetings.
“You can imagine for over a year we go for meetings and they send people who do not have the mandate to commit the government into anything in such meetings and so I think December last year NEC met in Wa where a motion was tabled that if by the end of January, we don’t see anything satisfactory as far as the negotiation of the condition of service are concerned, we will strike. January ended and the meeting was called, among the NEC members the decision was unanimous that we go on strike.
“But if we will go on strike, it will require that the 15-member campuses of the public universities must all vote so that we can put the numbers together, we have today up to Friday to all vote, UG decided to vote first and that is the outcome. The other 14 campuses will have to vote and then afterward.”
It is recalled that the National Labour Commission (NLC) directed UTAG and Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to continue discussions and finalize negotiations regarding the Conditions of Service (CoS) for the University Teachers Association of Ghana until December 21, 2023.
The decision was made on Thursday, November 23, 2023, after the NLC gave UTAG and FWSC a week to negotiate on the CoS, where no clear resolution of the issue was determined.
Speaking to UniversNews, the national president of UTAG, Prof. Mahamoud Akudugu explained the reason for the extension.
“The NLC on 23rd November 2023 directed UTAG and FWSC to further engage to complete negotiations on UTAG’s Conditions of Service. The extension was granted in view of the progress made during the earlier one (1) week directive by the NLC. The Parties are expected to conclude negotiations within the period of extension and report to the Commission on 21st December 2023.”
By Laud Nartey
