The National Labour Commission, after describing the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) strike as “ illegal“ as it did not follow the due process prescribed by Sub Part II of Act 651 on the Settlement of industrial disputes, specifically, section 159 on notice of strike, University of Ghana (UG) chapter has ignored the directive to call off the strike.
“Members are surprised at the directive for the strike to be called off due to late notification though the NLC deliberately evaded and frustrated the processes to serve them with notification,” the UG-UTAG said in a press release.
The chapter said they were worried about the “unhelpful” posturing of the NLC because their intention to strike had always been in the public domain from the middle of 2021, yet the NLC had not been proactive in resolving the issues. The Association reiterated the demand that members be restored to the 2013 entry point salary level of the cedi equivalent of 2,084 USD per month.
It said they found the claim by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission that all issues about UTAG’s conditions of service had been resolved simply because a report had been produced, as “diversionary, propagandistic and in a very bad faith.”
The NLC directed the Association to call off its industrial action and resume work after a hearing on Thursday, January 13, 2022.
According to UTAG, the strike action is in response to “the worsening Conditions of Service (CoS) of the University Teacher and the failure of the Employer in addressing the plight of UTAG members within the agreed timelines.”
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of UTAG, which directed the withdrawal of services per a communique it issued on Saturday, 8th January, following two emergency meetings, consequently asked all UTAG members across its 15 branches to observe the directive.
“It may be recalled that the Interim Market Premium (IMP) which was instituted following the implementation of the Single Spine Pay Policy got frozen, per a Government White Paper, in 2013, for the purpose of the conduct of an LMS to determine an MP payable to workers deserving of it. To date, this determination has not been made, which has resulted in the erosion of the University Teacher’s salary. There was the hope that by completing and implementing the Labour Market Survey (LMS) Report of 2019, a review of the IMP would have put the University Teacher on relatively good salary stead. Regrettably, the recommendations of the 2019 LMS Report without any accompanying technical report on the implementable MP is meaningless to UTAG as it does not address the pertinent issues of improved CoS.
Source: Mybrytnewsroom.com/Kofi Atakora
