UTAG hasn’t suspended strike, the decision will depend on steps taken by NLC and Employment Ministry – Samuel Nkuban
Samuel Nkuban, President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), UG Chapter, claims the union has not halted its strike, despite agreeing to return work after an emergency meeting with the National Labour Commission (NLC) and the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations.
UTAG has agreed to take steps to suspend the ongoing strike action while the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, in collaboration with the National Labour Commission (NLC), takes steps to end all legal processes against the association, according to a memorandum of agreement obtained by JoyNews.
Mr Samuel Nkuban stated that the Association cannot say whether or not its strike action has been called off because that decision is contingent on the government’s actions yet to be made. speaking on PM Express,
“Today’s outcome is still contingent on a number of things happening, so there is no guarantee that we are off or on because what is contingent is that… we have done a road map to give us a one-month period within which we must have agreed with government on what we want or agreed on what is acceptable by general membership that we can work with. Apart from that, all legal proceedings against UTAG have been halted since we are unable to appear in court.
“So the condition of UTAG taking measures to postpone the action is predicated on these factors, and we’re waiting to see how they play out over the next day or two. As of right now, we haven’t put a halt to operations. Suspension of the action is contingent on the actions taken by both parties,” he stated.
When both parties appear before the Labour Court on Thursday, Mr. Nkuban told presenter Aisha Ibrahim that the Association expects all legal measures against it to be abandoned.
If that’s the case, he said, “we [UTAG] also have until Friday to engage with our general membership on the basis of good will as well as a commitment from government that within one month, we will be at a point where everyone agrees this is where we want to be, and then the processes of saying, we’re resuming strike will not have to happen.”
“So, on that premise, we are prepared to suspend,” he said, provided all of these processes are completed with the government treating us with the respect and dedication we deserve.
The National Labour Commission had already obtained an injunction against the Association, claiming that the law prohibits UTAG from taking industrial action while talks are ongoing.
Following that, when the Labour Court of the High Court met to hear the injunction case filed before the Association by the National Labour Commission (NLC) on the strike action, the Court fined UTAG GHc3,000 for wasting its time due to its failure to complete protocols.
-myjoyonline
