Political Science Lecturer at the university of Ghana, Professor Ransfor Gyampo, has declared that the University Teachers Association of Ghana, UTAG would not succumb to threats from the National Labour Commission.
This is a response to the acquisition of an interlocutory by the NLC from the Labour Court 1, to force members of the UTAG to return to work immediately.
He further mentioned that the Government should go ahead and imprison all of them or sack them, claiming that the threats won’t hinder the ongoing strike. However, members of UTAG of defiled the order from the court saying that; they would not return to lecture halls until the Government duly addressed their complaints.
The professor, Gyampo, also criticized the representatives of the Government negotiation team as being “abysmal” and incompetent in the attempts to find a resolution to the strike by the UTAG. For the past 10 years, the negotiations had remained stagnant with no prospect for progress, Prof. Gyampo added.
“I think there’s a way out in my view {but} some of us have called for an independent third party to intervene because as far as I’m concerned those who have negotiated on the government’s behalf have been abysmal and demonstrated much incompetence.”
The UTAG strike began on the 2nd of August 2021. The National President of the union announced this, saying; that all members are to embark on an indefinite strike until the “government pays for its sin.”
The demands by the Union included an increase in their salaries to around $2,08.42, as compared to the current $997.84, which the Union proclaimed was inadequate for them.