Continues TUTAG’s strike illegal – Labor expert
A labor expert, Abraham Yalley says the continues strike by the Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG) is illegal.
The teachers have been away from the lecture halls for three weeks demanding same pay grade as their colleagues in traditional universities.
TUTAG contends government has failed to honor its obligation of migrating them onto the Universities salary structure.
Though there have been numerous appeals from students, Vice Chancellors of the technical universities and government to get the lecturers back into the classrooms, they insist they will not call off the strike until government settles their demands.
But labor expert, Abraham Yalley says the decision to continue with the strike when negotiations are ongoing is inappropriate.
In an interview monitored by The Ghana Report, Mr Yalley said, “if you’re negotiating, you don’t strike. They’ve started negotiations with government therefore,striking becomes illegal. The law says that when you’re negotiating, you don’t strike. So far as the labor unions have been engaged, i believe it is inappropriate for them to continue with the strike…So far as the employer has engaged them, they should go back to the classrooms and teach”.
According to him, the lecturers have taken an entrenched position which is likely to affect the ongoing negotiations.
Meanwhile TUTAG says their meeting with government ended in a stalemate. They want government to fulfill its side of the bargain instead of appealing to them to go back to the classrooms.
Chairman of the Kumasi chapter of TUTAG, Andy Danquah said “it is not about appealing to us to return to the lecture halls. It’s about government fulfilling its part of the bargain. We’ve been on this road for quite sometime and government knows what it has to do”.
In a related development, the Technical Universities Workers Association of Ghana (TUWAG) have given government a seven (7) day ultimatum to migrate them also onto the Universities salary structure or face their wrath.
National President of TUWAG, Nana Kwapong Offei Boahene says he expects government to address the issues of technical universities holistically.
“they are dealing with only TUTAG but the migration concerns all staff of technical universities. Government must deal with the issues comprehensively” he said.