The Education Ministry has urged the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) to be more flexible during negotiations in order to end the ongoing strike.
According to the Ministry’s Spokesperson, Kwasi Kwarteng, the current impasse cannot be resolved if the parties maintain their entrenched positions, which he believes will prolong the strike.
In an interview with Accra-based Citi FM on Thursday, he stated that the Ministry has consistently engaged UTAG; however, the engagements should be guided by the legal framework.
“It is only at negotiations where you are able to address the critical and the specific issues that need to be addressed.”
“We will continue to appeal to the leadership of UTAG that there should be some level of flexibility and there should be a clear roadmap in building some concessions so that ultimately, we should be finding an end to the impasse,” he pleaded.
Out-of-court settlement
The Labour Division of the High Court has directed the National Labour Commission (NLC) and the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) to resolve the strike impasse outside of court for the second time.
Both parties have been at odds for the entire five-week duration of the UTAG strike.
The Court had previously ordered UTAG and NLC to settle the matter out of court on February 3, 2022.
The two parties were unable to do so. On Thursday, February 10, 2022, they appeared in court.
As a result, UTAG and NLC have been urged to return to the negotiation table, engage, and resolve the impasse.
The case has been rescheduled for February 15, 2022.
UTAG’s demands
UTAG wants the government to reconsider the payment of its annual research allowance in favor of a more realistic allowance, “as this is critical to our research output, promotion, and, ultimately, national development.”
They also want the 114 percent Interim Market Premium (IMP) on Basic Salary from 2013 restored.
The Association had complained about the current salary arrangement, which has reduced its members’ basic premiums to $997.84 per month, as opposed to the 2012 conditions of service, which paid entry-level lecturers $2,084.42 per month.
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SOURCE: myjoyonline
