The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) is planning a statewide strike in response to the government’s inability to discuss their working conditions.
Dr. Eliasu Mumuni, General Secretary of UTAG, said discussions on base pay based on market premiums are the single most critical issue that will cause them to reverse their decision.
Dr. Mumuni told journalists in Accra that UTAG members would meet to decide on a striking date.
“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 stated.
In the meantime, UTAG and the Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG) walked out of a meeting with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) on Wednesday.
The associations cited the commission’s bad faith, disrespect, and lackadaisical attitude toward consideration of critical areas of their working circumstances as grounds.
They emphasized that they would no longer tolerate the extreme disrespect and lack of commitment to improving their working circumstances.
They stressed that UTAG/TUTAG would not participate in discussions that did not produce results and warned that university lecturers’ voices will be heard shortly in a language better understood by the employer or the government.
