4 university unions declare strike over service conditions variation

Following the disagreement over what they say was a “unilateral” variation of agreed conditions of service, the national leadership of four labour unions in public universities in Ghana, have declared a strike action beginning Monday, October 17, 2022.

They had suspended an earlier strike threat after meeting with the National Labour Commission (NLC).

However, they have said the government [Employer] has failed to present the “terms of payment” for the Vehicle Maintenance and Off-Campus Allowances, which are the main issues in contention, as directed by the NLC.

Rather, the government has suggested the formation of a 10-member committee to address only the Off-Campus Allowance.

The four labour unions in all public universities have therefore asked their members to begin the strike action on Monday, “as the Employer has, once again, failed to adhere to the directive of the NLC”.

The four unions are the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), Tertiary Education Workers Union of Ghana (TEWU-GH), Senior Staff Association of the University of Ghana (SSA-UoG) and Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA).

The conditions of service being referred to are in relation to fuel, vehicle maintenance and off-campus allowances.

“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 is to commence from Monday, 17th October 2022 as the Employer has, once again, failed to adhere to the directive of the NLC”, a statement signed by leaders of the four unions released on Sunday night (October 16, 2022) said.