Fulfil your promise to us – UTAG sends warning to government
Government has been urged to fulfil its promise University Teachers Association of Ghana as they return to the negotiation table.
The seven-week-old industrial action was called off after appeals by Government, Parliament’s Education Committee, Students Unions and Vice-Chancellors Ghana as well as a ruling by an Accra High Court Ruling.
After a meeting by the National Executive Committee, the association decided to finally resume negotiations till March 4th 2022.
National President of UTAG, Professor Solomon Nunoo, said he’s hopeful about the negotiations.
“For us, we took the decision to suspend the strike finally after the Vice-Chancellors Ghana spoke to us. The parliamentary select committee actually gave the government side a one-week ultimatum from the day of the suspension of the strike to ensure that the whole process is completed, and we believe that brings some form of pragmatism to the negotiation process. So that is what we are actually banking our hope on.”
“We are cautiously optimistic that our employer would get things done within this period. It is a risk we have taken because if we continue looking at the past experiences of government, I can assure that, this strike would have continued Infinitum, but we are being optimistic about it. I believe that if the government side is serious about this whole thing then we should be able to finalize these things about improved conditions of service, that’s our target”, he added.
However, the Education Ministry says the government is willing to actively engage with members of the association over their concerns.
Public Relations Officer of the Ministry, Kwasi Kwarteng is hopeful that the government’s negotiations with UTAG will yield positive results.
“As I speak to you, we have started a conversation about inviting UTAG as soon as possible to begin negotiation. During negotiation, there will be some level of consensus building. That demonstrates the government’s commitment to meet UTAG in a position that is comfortable for all parties,” he said
