The Secretary of the University of Ghana chapter of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), Prof. Ransford Gyampo, has warned that his chapter will strike alone if it is not satisfied with the government’s agreement with the association.
“We don’t mind going on strike alone if what they have gone to sign is inimical to our interest. The constitution mandates us or gives us the right to reject,” Prof. Gyampo said to Citi News.
He said any possible strike would come at the beginning of the next semester.
“If they don’t agree on what we are looking for, then we will vacate and resume no more.”
Prof. Gyampo also expressed doubts about the capabilities of UTAG’s negotiation team.
“We have made recommendations that the negotiation team itself should be overhauled. People feel that the fact that they hold positions in UTAG simply makes them automatic members of negotiation teams.”
“The negotiation team should be made up of labour experts, economists, finance people; people who understand the game,” Prof. Gyampo said.
UTAG planned to resume a strike protesting its conditions of service last week Friday.
Its members had been on strike in August 2021 because it wanted the government to restore the conditions of service agreed upon in 2012.
This was after a one-month period for resumed negotiations that did not yield any results, according to the union of lecturers.
But it backed down after coming to an agreement with the government a day before the ultimatum expired.
The strike threatened the conduct of examinations in schools and risked adversely altering the academic calendar further following the disruptions of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 2012 conditions of service peg the Basic plus Market Premium of a lecturer at $2,084.42, but basic premiums of lecturers stand at $997.84.