TUTAG declares indefinite strike

Cape Coast-Ghana, Nov. 19, GNA – The Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG) has declared an indefinite strike over poor conditions of service, effective Friday, November 18.
It said the Government’s failure to respond with dispatch to issues concerning improved working conditions for members, raised in an earlier petition, was indicative of a lack of commitment by government to ease the plights of members.
Professor Collins Ameyaw, the National President of TUTAG, in a release, said the decision was reached after thorough deliberations by the National and Chapter Executives of the Association.
He referenced the core of their grievances to an earlier correspondence on Monday, September 26, 2022, on new rate of fuel allowance for members of the University Teachers Association (UTAG) and TUTAG.
The said letter was addressed to the responsible state institutions for redress, including the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), and copied to the ministers of Education and Finance, Chairman of the National Labour Commission (NLC) and the Chief Executive Officer of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission.
However, the said issues had not received the necessary actions by the institutions, hence the decision for an indefinite strike action, Prof Ameyaw said.
“We wish to state that issues raised in the above letter have since not received any attention from the aforementioned government agencies,” he said.
“TUTAG views the inaction by these agencies as an indication that the concerns expressed in our letter have not been treated with the seriousness they deserve.”
Significantly, TUTAG also referred to the NLC directive on September 2, 2022, which notified the Commission of an indefinite action in relation to TUTAG’s demand for the implementation of the negotiated internally generated funds and conditions of service.
The directive, according to TUTAG, asked the Minister of Finance to ensure payment in January 2023.
It should also ensure that it issued the necessary letters to the various University Councils within reasonable time to make budgetary provisions in the budget to take care of payments on the effective date.
Prof Ameyaw said even though January 2023 was less than two months away and most universities were done with their budget preparations for next year, the Minister of Finance had not issued the letter as directed by the NLC.
On a visit to Cape Coast Technical University on Friday, the Ghana News Agency observed that the university campus was virtually empty with few lecturers around.
Inquiries made indicated that students were on vacation and will resume on Friday, November 25.