UTAG agrees to suspend strike: The University Teachers’ Association of Ghana (UTAG) has temporarily suspended its strike, according to wilsontrendit.com.
The suspension will remain until March 4, at which point UTAG hopes to have struck a favorable agreement with the government during its talks.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of UTAG conducted an emergency meeting on Monday, February 21st, to examine their ongoing industrial action.
Similar discussions between the leadership of UTAG, Parliament’s Education Committee, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, the Education Minister, and the Labour Minister on the topic of calling off the strike action have previously proved inconclusive.
What is the purpose of the UTAG Strike?
Since January 10, 2022, UTAG has been on strike since the government has failed to assess their working conditions since 2017.
As a result, the group is requesting that the government reinstate its 2012 service terms, which set the monthly salary of entry-level professors at $2,084.
The present agreement, according to UTAG, has decreased basic rates to $997.84 for its members.
UTAG strike suspended temporary
Prof Solomon Nunoo, the Association’s National President, and Dr Asare Asante-Annor, the Association’s National Secretary, signed a joint statement “decided to halt our strike action on the recommendation of prominent leaders, the Select Committee on Education, and the court verdict…”
Continue >>> UTAG agrees to suspend strike
“Negotiations will begin in earnest and be concluded within the agreed period and outcome,” the statement said, referring to a roadmap agreed upon by the organization and the government.
“Meanwhile, the legal proceedings ongoing before the Court on the legality or otherwise of our strike action will proceed to their natural conclusion,” the statement reads in part.
UTAG and NLC (Legal battle)
The Labour Division of the Accra High Court issued an injunction against the university teachers’ strike last week.
The Court’s ruling came on Tuesday, February 15th, in response to the National Labour Commission’s (NLC) request for an interlocutory injunction to keep the UTAG strike going while discussions are ongoing.
After unsuccessful attempts to persuade UTAG to call off its strike, the NLC took the union to court. The lecturers are likely to call a halt to their strike until the Court rules on the NLC’s substantive motion.
UTAG strike update: Are students supposed to go back to school?
Despite the fact that the leadership has agreed, the UTAG Association’s constitution requires members to be present.
(Lecturers) to agree to call the strike off as well. UTAG members have five days to agree or disagree.
If they agree, UTAG will issue a formal statement announcing lecturer preparedness and the start of classes.
If they vote ‘NO’ after 5 days, the strike will continue; if they vote ‘YES,’ the strike will be called off, and Lecturers will resume teaching.
