The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) have effective today, Monday, January 10, 2022, embarked on a nationwide strike action to press home their demand for improved Conditions of Service (CoS)
UTAG from last year has been lamenting the worsening conditions of its members and followed through with some demands on government.
In its latest press release dated January 8, the group decried government’s inability to implement as well as meet timelines agreed upon during negotiations as part of efforts aimed at improving the conditions of service of lecturers.
“It may be recalled that the Interim Market Premium (IMP) which was instituted following the implementation of the Single Spine Pay Policy got frozen, per a Government White Paper, in 2013, for the purpose of the conduct of an LMS (Labour Market Survey) to determine a MP payable to workers deserving of it. To date, this determination has not been made, which has resulted in the erosion of the University Teacher’s salary,” parts of the statement read.
“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.
"Interestingly, however, there was an 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.” the statement added
Citing the 2019 Labour Market Survey report which proscribes that the 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, UTAG questioned how this is to be achieved when lecturers' condition of service keep deteriorating.
“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 members see 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,” the group stressed.
UTAG also pointed out that its “members have decried the pittance agreed to be paid as annual research allowance and want government to reconsider the payment of a more realistic research allowance as this is critical to our research output, promotion and ultimately national development.”
It again wants government to restore members to the 2013 Interim Market Premium of 114% of Basic Salary in the interim whilst Government goes ahead to formulate guidelines to implement the appropriate recommendations to address the CoS of the University Teacher.
To this end, UTAG stated that it will begin a strike action by withdrawing teaching and related activities until further notice with effect from today Monday, January 10, 2022.
“For the reasons stated above, the NEC of UTAG at its meeting held on 7th January 2022 reiterated its resolve to follow through with the decision to withdraw teaching and related activities until further notice with effect from Monday, 10th January 2022 and call on all UTAG members across the fifteen (15) branches to observe this directive,” the statement said.
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