Address UTAG’s demands – Apaak to government

UTAG declare indefinite nationwide strike action

National Labour Commission invites feuding parties for a meeting

Students worried over impact of strike

Deputy ranking member on Parliament’s Education Committee, Dr. Clement Apaak has tasked the government to find lasting solutions to the demands of the University Teachers Association of Ghana who are currently on strike to demand better conditions of service.

The Bulsa South MP in a Citi News interview urged the government to find the needed resources from the state coffers to cater for UTAG’s concerns.

He opined that the workload on university lecturers have increased overtime thus deserve adequate compensation.

“The issues are very clear. UTAG has issued a statement outlining why they have chosen to do what they are doing today. And it all boils down to the government finding the resources to address their needs because the issue of remuneration continues to be the bone of contention. The university lecturers over the period have also had their workload increased,” Dr. Clement Apaak said.

UTAG on Monday January 10, 2022 declared a nationwide strike action to demand an improvement in their conditions of service.

Amongst other things, UTAG lamented government’s inability to meet timelines agreed upon during negotiations.

The group 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”.

UTAG 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.

It will be recalled that UTAG embarked on a strike on August 2, 2021, to protest what they said was their poor conditions of service.

Among other demands, the university teachers have been asking government to peg the pay of entry-level lecturers at $2,084.

The strike which lasted for some two weeks was called off after UTAG and the government of Ghana signed a Memorandum of Understanding to pave way for negotiations.

Some months down the line, some UTAG officials have accused the government of showing bad faith as it failed to honour their demands.