UTAG threatens strike over ‘unfruitful’ conditions of service negotiations

The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), is insisting that its members will go on strike, beginning August 2, 2021, if issues concerning their conditions of service are not addressed by the end of July 2021.

President of the Association, Prof. Charles Marfo, said the decision is a result of the government’s failure to properly resolve their concerns regarding their conditions of service over a period of time.

Prof. Marfo, in a Citi News interview in Kumasi, said: “Over the years, the fortunes of university lecturers have dwindled. For the past three years, we have been engaging government on our conditions of service.”

“So we have indicated to the government that if by the end of July 2021, we do not see anything concrete to better the lives of university lecturers, we have only one weapon and that is a strike. If our concerns delay, the strike will continue if it’s declared on August 2, 2021”, he added.

Meanwhile, some students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) have urged the government to, as a matter of urgency, address the grievances of their lecturers to avoid a possible strike.

Slow salary negotiations

Last month, UTAG lamented what it calls the slow nature of ongoing negotiations on the salaries and conditions of service of its members.

The Association maintains that there is growing tension among its members on the various campuses due to the posture of the government towards finalising negotiations on their conditions of service, which have been on the table since 2018.

It, therefore, gave the government until the end of July to address their concerns.

“We have been negotiating with the government about our conditions of service, but it’s been long since we had one. So we thought it wise that it is about time we did. We have been having negotiations on it, but it doesn’t seem to have been fruitful, so we want to begin to get something substantial for our members. We expect the government to be up and doing. If they don’t, the only option left is for us to lay [down] our tools, but no one wants to get on that tangent,” Prof. Marfo said.

Source: Citi