The leaderships of four labour unions have announced a strike action which takes effect from today, Monday, October 17, 2022.
The strike is to protest for improved conditions of service, especially with regards to their vehicle maintenance, fuel and off-campus allowances.
The four labor unions are the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), the Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA), the Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG) and the Tertiary Education Workers Union of Ghana (TEWU-GH).
“The National leaders of UTAG, GAUA, SSA-UoG and TEWU-GH have made several efforts since April, 2022 to address some issues related to their fuel, vehicle maintenance and off-campus allowances.”
Presidents, Labour Unions
The labour unions, which had suspended an initial suspension threat due to deliberations with the National Labour Commission (NLC), resolved to embark on the suspension after talks with their Employer, the Government of Ghana, ended in a stalemate.
Meeting with labour unions
On October 12th, 2022, the NLC ruled that there was going to be a meeting between the Labour Unions and their Employer where “the parties [can] engage within one week on the terms of payment and other related matters.”
The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), representing the Employer, called such a meeting on Friday, 13th October, 2022 at the Ministry of Education Conference Room.
The Labour Unions heeded the directives of the NLC by responding to the invitation.
Even though in a press release by the Labour Unions, they stated categorically that “up until the NLC hearing, the employer had not responded to any of the letters of the Labour Unions or the request of the Commission for the Employer to respond to the complaints of the Labour Unions.”
The meeting, which was meant to bring finality to the issues, ended in a stalemate.
The Labour Unions claimed “the Employer failed to present the terms of payment for vehicle maintenance and off-campus allowances which are the main issues in contentions.”
In essence, the two parties could not reach any meaningful consensus.
According to the Labour Unions, the Government only suggested the formation of a 10-member committee to address the off-campus allowances.
The representatives of the Labour Unions rejected the suggestion “and rather pushed for the enforcement of the 2022 adjusted ex-pump rate of GHC10.99.”
“As a result of the development, we write to communicate that the intended strike action of the Labour Unions in the public universities in Ghana is to commence on Monday, 17th October, 2022 as the Employer has, once again failed to adhere to the directive of the NLC.”
Presidents, Labour Unions
At the 13th October, 2022 meeting, the Government of Ghana was represented by the Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister for Employment and Labour Relations and his deputy, Mr. Ignatius Baffour-Awuah and Mr. Bright Wireko-Brobbey, Deputy Minister for Finance, Abena Osei Asare, the CEO of Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, Ing. Benjamin Arthur, the Director General of Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) amongst others.
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