The National Labour Commission (NLC) has asked Teacher Unions and government to engage within one week on the terms of payment and other related matters and report back to it.
This is after the Commission heard the dispute over the intention of the University Teachers’ Association of Ghana, (UTAG), University Teachers’ Senior Staff Association, University of Ghana (SSA-UG), Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) and Tertiary Education Workers Union of Ghana (TEWU-GH) to embark on strike.
A statement issued by Mr Ofosu Asamoah, Executive Secretary, NLC, said the Commission specifically requested the parties to engage on Friday, October 14, and Monday, October 17, 2022.
It said a letter by UTAG dated 22nd September 2022 notified the Commission of its intention to strike and a separate letter dated 30th September 2022 from the UTAG National Secretariat, of the three other Tertiary Unions Association of Ghana to join the strike.
It said the complainants were led by the President of UTAG with representation from the other Teacher Unions while Government, the Respondent, was represented by officials from Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) and Ministry of Finance.
The statement said the complainants said they had served notice to embark on strike due to the Government’s failure to implement some negotiated and agreed allowances, which were fuel, vehicle maintenance and off-campus allowances.
According to UTAG, it said, the Government had not heeded its call to have the allowances paid to their members, hence, the decision to embark on the strike.
The statement said Mr Benjamin Arthur, Chief Executive Officer, FWSC, speaking on behalf of Government stated that the fuel allowance had been worked on and that currently, there were ongoing discussions over the payment of the vehicle maintenance allowance and off-campus allowance.
It said he, therefore, prayed for time to continue with the engagement and report back to the Commission.
The statement said in reaction, the complainants reiterated that the issues had been negotiated and agreed upon, hence, sought clarification on the engagement the Government side was referring to, as according to them the issue was about implementation not negotiation.
The case is adjourned to 19th October, 2022 at 3 p.m.
Present at the hearing was the Chairman of Vice Chancellors’ Ghana (VCG).
