The Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) has suspended its nationwide strike, effective Friday, October 16, with members expected to return to work on Monday, October 19.
The association said the decision followed further discussions with the Ministry of Education and assurances that its outstanding concerns would be addressed.
GAUA National President, Rev. Kwaku Karikari Amoah, announced the suspension after a meeting of the association’s National Executive Committee (NEC). He said members had agreed to return to work while negotiations continued on the remaining issues.
“After we had done a thorough evaluation, we came to the consensus that about 80% of our grievances have been met,” Rev. Amoah said.
He explained that the association would continue engaging relevant government stakeholders to resolve the outstanding concerns.
“On that basis, we agreed unanimously that we suspend the strike action so that our members will go back to the offices on Monday to work,” he said.
The association’s grievances include market premium payments, what it considers wrongful placement on the Single Spine Salary Structure, a negotiated 40 per cent allowance for professionals in technical and public universities, the extension of the retirement rule beyond the fifth year, and a one-off allowance payment.
Rev. Amoah said the NEC reviewed the issues before unanimously agreeing to suspend the industrial action.
He also acknowledged the Education Minister’s role in facilitating discussions to address the concerns raised by the association.
“As the minister just said, we brought our grievances to him for redress, and he has so far helped us and facilitated the process for some of these grievances to be addressed,” he said.
Despite the progress made, Rev. Amoah stressed that negotiations would continue until all outstanding matters were resolved.
He explained that the NEC, which is GAUA’s second-highest decision-making body after Congress, had the authority to take the decision on behalf of the association.
The GAUA president said the return to work would help restore normal administrative activities and promote peace on public university campuses.
“GAUA has suspended its strike action, and we are going back to the offices to complement the efforts of our colleagues on campus to ensure that there is peace and tranquillity on our university campuses,” he said.
GAUA began the industrial action over concerns about differences in revised market premiums and related allowances between teaching and non-teaching senior staff in public universities.
The strike was reactivated on August 10 after what the association described as persistent concerns over disparities in remuneration between the two groups.
The suspension is expected to allow administrative operations at public universities across the country to return to normal while discussions on the remaining grievances continue.
