The Senior Staff Association of the Universities of Ghana (SSAUoG) has expressed its intention to embark on an indefinite strike, effective today, July 13.
The group comprises administrative staff at the various universities in Ghana.
Speaking to Accra-based 3FM on Wednesday, a trustee of the Association, James Maluna Banoeng said the Association will formally announce its strike at a press conference later today.
The press conference will take place at the main gate of the University of Ghana, Legon.
“We will be declaring the strike at 10 am today at the University of Ghana main gate, and we are extending invitation to all media houses. I don’t want to let the cat out of the bucket. There is a national chairman who will be giving the announcement”, Mr. Benoeng said.
The notification by the Association adds to the prevailing unrest on the labour front.
Currently, the Teachers and Education Workers Union (TEWU), the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) and the Coalition of Concerned Teachers (CCT) have laid down their tools, over the failure of government to pay them 20% of their basic salaries as Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).
Regarding this development, representatives of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the National Graduate Association of Teachers (NAGRAT) walked out of the negotiation with the government over their demand for COLA.
The two associations accused government of betrayal of trust for asking them to call off their strike before negotiations.
“By indicating and asking us to call off our strike before negotiations begin, what it means is that the government side is not ready to continue negotiations unless the teacher unions call off the strike. They have held all organised labour hostage, this is a betrayal of trust.
“Right now since we are undesirable, before they even walk us out of the meeting, we are walking out of the meeting ourselves”, NAGRAT President, Angel Carbonu told the media on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the said meeting has been adjourned indefinitely.
According to the Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Bright Wereko-Brobbey, the adjournment was due to the refusal of some labour unions to call off their strike before negotiations commence.
“We have had to adjourn the meeting because both parties; labour and government think that we cannot do this while a party is on strike, so the agreement is that we are going off to talk to each other. They call off the strike and we come again to meet”, he told Joy News.
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, and the Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Bright Wereko-Brobbey, together with other government officials, were present at the meeting.
He noted that the meeting would be reconvened in the course of the week for negotiations to continue.
This is the second time negotiations between the teacher unions and the government have ended inconclusively. The teachers have been on strike since last Tuesday.
