Four University Lecturers group yesterday suspend an intended industrial strike which was to commence today Friday October 14.
The groups are-the University Teacher Association of Ghana (UTAG), Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG), Teachers & Educational Workers’ Union (TEWU), Federation of Universities Senior Staff Association of Ghana (FUSAG) and the Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA).
This was after the National Labour Commission (NLC) directed the government to hold meetings with them on their concerns.
A statement issued by the Unions on yesterday October 13 said “After the deliberations, the Commission directed that the Employer should hold meetings with the four (4) Labour Unions on Friday, 14th October 2022 and Monday, 17th October 2022 to ‘discuss terms of payment and other related matters’.
“The parties are to report back to the Commission on Wednesday, 19th October 2022 at 3 pm. As a result of this development, we write to communicate that the intended strike action of all Labour Unions in the public universities in Ghana, which was to commence from Today, 13th October 2022 has been postponed for the meetings with the Employer to take place. Should the meetings fail to yield the intended result, Leadership will, accordingly, communicate the next date for the strike action.
The Ghanaian Publisher unequivocally applaud the group for their desire to return to the negotiation table with the government about their concerns.
While we urge that cool heads prevail at the much expected meeting, it is our hope that the parties resort to dialogues instead of entrenched positions.
No matter the nature of their grievances or concerns, academic work must never be sacrificed because of parties entrenched positions.
The parties should be opened minded and be realistic with their demands because the government cannot promise what its cannot offer.
While we all play our part in an attempt to build Ghana, some form of sacrifices and adjustments should be made for the sake of posterity.
The Ghanaian Publisher is optimistic that the meeting will yield some good fruits and restore somw quiet on that Labour front.
Calling the aggrieved parties to the meeting is not a problem, but the fear of intransigence and Obstinacy is what we dread.
As they put it Failure to address these essential concerns will result in the possible total withdrawal of our services across all Public Universities in Ghana.”