The National Labour Commission has instructed the Senior Staff Association of the Universities of Ghana to call off its strike.
Contained in a letter to the leadership of the Senior Staff Association, it addressed the government and the union to “go back to the negotiation table in good faith on the non-basic allowances and when the tier two pension arrears will be paid”.
In outlining measures for a resolution for the union and government, the Commission expressly stated that the association, in an effort to follow the rules of engagement have failed to exhaust corresponding procedures prior to declaring the strike.
The Commission in its bid to ameliorate the situation, suggested three months for the two parties to engage in arbitration and as such “the government should do everything possible to pay the pension arrears outstanding by the end of March 2021”.
Reacting to this, the National Chairman of the Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana, Zakaria Mohammed disclosed it will be necessary for National Executive Committee of the union to meet and revert on the commission’s letter.
“It is a decision of the National executive council. We will not be able to say for now whether we are going to call it off or not. If we meet after Sunday, we should be in a position to see”.
The Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana announced a nationwide strike on January 2 over outstanding Tier-2 contributions of its retired members.
Among the demands by the Association is the improved market premium and non-basic allowance as well as the migration of public universities onto the Controller and Accountant General Payroll system.
The strike interrupted the provisions of key services in the basic schools on the University of Cape Coast, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and the University of Ghana campuses.
Meanwhile, the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU), has also entreated its members to comply with the suspension of its strike.
The leadership, having called off strike on January 18, have witnessed the reluctance of some of its members to follow the directive.
The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology chapter of TEWU, on their part, has called for a foolproof commitment the government before calling off the strike.
Also, the University of Health and Allied Sciences chapter instituted a taskforce to ensure its members complied with the directive.
The General Secretary of TEWU, Ambrose Yao Kwadwodza, in responding to the situation stated that further attempts will be made to engage the branches of the union.
“The local executives will be meeting our members across the country to give them the information that we need to stay action on our strike and go back to the negotiation table hopefully next week.
“By that, everybody will have the assurance that we are on course in getting what we want with our employers”.
TEWU declared an indefinite strike nationwide on Wednesday, 13th January 2021, to demand better conditions of service.
But it suspended the strike after coming to an agreement with the government to work on their risk allowance, promotion, and non-basic allowance.
READ ALSO: Government in deliberation with TEWU over working conditions
