Four worker unions in the public universities of Ghana have suspended their intended strike over conditions of service.
The unions are the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), the Tertiary Education Workers Union (TEWU), the Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG), and the Ghana Association of University Administration (GAUA).
The Unions threatened to embark on an indefinite strike, from today, Thursday, October 13, 2022, if the government failed to resolve issues regarding their conditions of service.
But after a meeting with the NLC, the four worker unions have postponed their intended strike to Wednesday, October 2022 for “meetings with the Employer to take place.”
“After the deliberations, the Commission directed that the Employer should hold meetings with the four (4) Labour Unions on Friday, 14th October 2022, and Monday, 17th October 2022 to “discuss terms of payment and other related matters”.
The parties are to report back to the Commission on Wednesday, 19th October 2022 at 3 pm.
“As a result of this development, we write to communicate that the intended strike action of all Labour Unions in the public universities in Ghana, which was to commence today, 13th October 2022 has been postponed for the meetings with the Employer to take place,” the unions said in a statement.
The National Chairman for the Senior Staff Association, Universities of Ghanan Mr. Isaac Donkor further warned that they would embark on an indefinite strike “should the meetings with the employers yield no result”.
The four worker unions are displeased with what they refer to as a ”blatant unilateral variation of service in the face of hostile economic conditions.”
They want government and all stakeholders to reverse the directive that negatively compromises university workers’ Conditions of Service.