UTAG strike: Good news in the air?

Owners of many ‘small’ businesses on the various campuses of the 15 public universities in the country are ‘jubilating’.

This follows the announcement made by the National Executive Council of the University Teachers’ Association of Ghana (UTAG) on Monday, February 21, 2022, suspending its ‘worrying’ strike action.

Owners of ‘small’ businesses on campuses are not ‘jubilating’ alone; many students are also ‘celebrating’ the announcement by UTAG to resume teaching.

A statement jointly signed by the national President of UTAG, Professor Solomon Nunoo and the national Secretary, Dr Asare Asante-Annor , said the suspension of the strike action is expected to last until March 4,  2022.

By the set time-frame, UTAG says, it is expecting to reach ‘a workable consensus’ with Government over deliberations to better the service conditions of ‘ the University Teacher’.

UTAG has been on strike since January 10, 2022, over its impasse with Government to review the conditions of service of university teachers.

The UTAG strike has paralysed many ‘small’ businesses in and around the 15 public universities in the country.

A University of Cape Coast-based caterer, Madam Anita Rhule, says:”The existence of the public universities has provided a lot of informal job opportunities for many people and ‘small-small’ businesses; especially for some of us in the catchment areas of the universities.”

According to Madam Rhule; “anytime the public universities are paralysed by ‘industrial malaria’, the ‘small-small’ businesses in and around the universities are heavily affected by the ‘paralysis’ of that ‘malaria’ because we cannot also ‘soundly’ operate our businesses.”

Explaining further, she said, “our businesses are mostly patronized by the university students and teachers and so if the universities are non-functional or closed, our businesses seriously suffer.”

Indeed, many stakeholders of tertiary education, including parents and guardians , are also hailing the announcement suspending the UTAG strike action.

Welcoming the decision of UTAG to suspend its strike action, Professor Kofi Agyekum , Head of the Linguistics Department of the University of Ghana, advised UTAG members to return to the lecture theatres “while the UTAG and Government work out a compromise to resolve the impasse.”

Professor Agyekum, himself a member of UTAG, said:”UTAG must accept that the students have not done us anything wrong. Our grievances are with Government. If we see it that way, we will not act to the detriment of the students because of the Government’s actions or inactions.”

The UTAG statement suspending its strike action said, it had “agreed to heed the advice of the eminent leaders (who met them), the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education and the court ruling to suspend our strike action.”

UTAG expects Government to restore its ‘agreed’ 2012 conditions of service to its members. The 2012 ‘agreed’ but ‘not implemented’ conditions of service pegged the monthly income entry-level lecturers at $2,084. UTAG now claims “the current arrangement has reduced members’ basic premiums to $997.84.”

The University of Education, Winneba Chapter of UTAG has, however, voted against the National Executive Council’s decision to suspend the strike action.

Dr. Pascal Kpodo, Vice President of UTAG-UEW says,”we are waiting for the other campuses to vote on the matter within five days.”

According to Dr Kpodo:”These resolutions will go back to the National Executive Council and they will take a final decision.”

The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), on the other hand, has announced resumption of academic activities on campus, beginning on Thursday, February 24, 2022.  Dr. Eric Abavari, General Secretary of the KNUST Chapter of UTAG rather says, the university will halt lectures on Monday, February 28, 2022, if the membership of UTAG votes to reject the National Executive Council’s decision to suspend the strike.

The national leadership of UTAG also insists that UTAG will resume its suspended industrial action, “if Government fails to fulfill its promise of improving its members’ working conditions within the 14 days breathing space.”

Professor Nunoo says: “We know Government has not fulfilled its part of the bargain in many signed agreements in the recent past.

“However, due to the involvement of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education and some eminent persons, we expect the Government to carry through its promises this time round.”

So, readers, let’s keep our fingers crossed while waiting for the outcome of the 14-day  ‘grace period’.

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asmahfrankg@gmail.com (0505556179)

By G. Frank Asmah