The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), has not backed down on its strike, despite mediation efforts by the leadership of Vice-Chancellors Ghana.
The two groups met on Wednesday, January 19, 2022, with the aim of averting the ongoing strike in all public universities across the country.
Though the strike, which began on January 10, has been declared illegal by the National Labour Commission, UTAG members maintain that the posturing of government will determine the course of action.
Dr. Samuel Bert Boadi-Kusi, the UTAG President at the University of Cape Coast, said there “have been frank discussions [with the Vice Chancellors] on what the way forward is, and we are waiting.”
“It is not our wish to be on strike… but inasmuch as it is not in our interest to be on strike, we also have certain demands on the table. There are certain conditions we hope are met,” he added.
UTAG members on all campuses are on strike to force the government to restore the conditions of service agreed upon in 2012.
The 2012 conditions of service pegged the Basic plus Market Premium of a lecturer at $2,084.42.
UTAG has complained that the current arrangement has reduced its members’ basic premiums to $997.84.
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, said her side’s engagement with the union remained inconclusive.
“It is early days yet. At this point, our objective is to get both sides together, so we talk through the issues. That is the only way we can find a resolution to it. That is the point at which we are. We cannot pre-empt anything at the moment,” she explained to Citi News.
