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As the engagement between Government and the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) seem unproductive, the association is bent on striking from Today Monday, January 10, 2022 onward.
UTAG who made this disclosure in a communique issued on January 8, 2022, said the decision was arrived at after its National Executive Committee (NEC) deliberated on issues bothering the Teachers and government’s unresponsiveness.
“At its emergency meetings held on Tuesday and Friday, 4th and 7th January 2022, respectively, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of UTAG discussed 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 statement said.
It would be recalled that they demanded a raise in their research allowances following a talk the NEC had with the employer which resulted in the agreement that US 1600 dollars would be paid the lecturers by 2024 .
The issue of research allowance pending, the Association also accused government of delaying to release Labour Market Surveys Report which were meant to determine Market Premium payable to workers deserving it.
The LMS according to the Association “has not been made, which has resulted in the erosion of the University Teacher’s salary [Interim Market Premium (IMP)].”
“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 a 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.”
The statement added: “Interestingly however, there was a LMS in 2014 whose Report did not see the light of day and one wonders if the 2019 LMS Report would ever be implemented since it is already two years old.
“In addition, recommendation (iii) from the 2019 LMS Report states that “Public Services Commission should liaise with educational institutions to prioritise the offering of courses in areas of demand to increase the employment prospects of their graduates and increase the pool of applicants for high vacancies.
“How can such a National Agenda be attained if the CoS of the University Teacher keeps worsening year on year leading to an ever-increasing attrition rate on our campuses?”.
UTAG believes therefore that the “timing of the release of the report as one of the usual delay tactics that the Employer has employed over the years, which is unacceptable.”
They therefore call on the government to restore the IMP which 114% of their Basic Salary in the interim while government goes ahead to formulate guidelines to implement the appropriate recommendations to address the Conditions of Service of the University teacher.
Meanwhile the industrial action is indefinite and the Association calls on all members across the 15 branches to observe the directive.
