Official: UTAG suspends strike action indefinitely
After over a month of strike that nearly led to the closure of public universities, the Universities Teachers Association of Ghana has officially suspended the industrial action.
A statement issued following an emergency meeting organized by the national executives of the association stated that “The National Executive Committee of UTAG held an Emergency Meeting on Tuesday, 8th March 2022, to among others, consider the outcome of the referenda on its decision to temporarily suspend the industrial action commenced on 10th January 2022.
Prior to the suspension, the National Executive committee had agreed following a meeting with stakeholders to suspend the strike to allow for further engagement with the employer. It referred the matter to the various chapters of the association for members to vote on as required by their constitution.
However, according to the statement, “twelve (12) out of the fifteen (15) UTAG branches voted to reject the call for the suspension of the strike action, signifying their lack of trust in the Employer’s commitment to addressing their concerns and, thus, their resolve to continue with the strike action until their demands were met”.
Though members of UTAG are unsatisfied with the arrangements made to address their concerns and NEC has pledged to ensure those concerns are considered in whatever agreement they will sign with the employer, one other thing that helped in their decision to suspend the strike is “the interventions of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education and the eminent persons, which led to the temporary suspension of the strike action, in accepting the proposals”.
Read the full statement below.
