The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) is accusing government of bad faith in its negotiation for an improved Conditions of Service.
UTAG has been in a mandatory 30 days negotiation over its demand for 2,084 dollars for entry level lecturers, but the Association says despite backing down on some of their demands and government pledging it’s commitment, nothing tangible has been achieved yet.
UTAG and government have been negotiating since 18th August when UTAG suspended it’s strike.
In a statement to its members, the Association called for calm among members.
“You may recall that a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was reached and/or signed between UTAG and our Employer to reopen negotiations on the Conditions of Service (CoS) of UTAG members following the withdrawal of teaching and related activities on our various universities and the subsequent suspension of same.
“The roadmap of the MOA required of the parties to reopen and complete negotiations within one month, covering specific items assented to by the parties.”
“The National Executive Committee (NEC) of UTAG wishes to inform its members that while every effort is being made to reach an amicable resolution, real results have not been achieved yet due to the actions and inactions of the Employer.
“The key concern of UTAG is the restoration of the salary of entry point of a lecturer to the 2012 levels, which stood at the cedi equivalent of US$2,084.00 and has presently depreciated to less than US$997.00 per the prevailing exchange rates.
“During this round of the negotiations, the Employer indicated to UTAG that it could no longer negotiate the Interim Market Premium and Non-Basic Salary Allowance.
“Rather, the Employer was only interested in negotiating the Research component of the Book and Research Allowances (BRA), which is a clear breach of good faith on the Employer’s own commitment. As a sign of magnanimity on the part of UTAG, the Association still went ahead to negotiate for the Research component of the BRA.
“However. that also did not yield any tangible results. It is important to indicate that UTAG has been overly generous by shifting its position substantially and even given ample time for the Employer to do the needful.”
The Association is warning it will have no option than to resume it’s strike if government fails to address their concerns.
“UTAG would also like to draw the Employer’s attention to the fact that its members are not “strike happy”. However, we would have no option than to resume the withdrawal of teaching and related services on our various campuses if the Employer fails to approach and address our concerns frontally.
“By this update, UTAG wishes to direct its members to remain calm as leadership continues to work for our ultimate good. You would be informed of our (obvious) next line of action in due course.”