Worker Unions of the C.K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences in the Upper East Region have declared an indefinite strike effective today, Monday, August 2, 2021.
The workers say the action follows a move by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to migrate their salary payment onto the Controller and Accountant General Department’s payroll system.
They argued that the situation will result in a reduction of their salaries and allowances, adding that the action by GTEC is contrary to the National Labour Commission’s (NLC) directive on the matter.
UTAG President of C.K Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Dr Jones Bugase, who announced the commencement of the strike said: “Pursuant to our letter of the strike, conveyed to the NLC, we, the members of UTAG, GUUA, and SSAoUG of C.K Tedam, the University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Navrongo hereby declare an indefinite strike today [Monday], August 2, 2021. We have not had any response to our concerns raised on issues of migration and payment salaries. We have resolved to withdraw our services until further notice. So we have asked all our members to comply with this directive until they hear from us.”
Some union executives have also been sharing their frustrations about the posturing of the government on the matter.
“GTEC and the stakeholders at the Ministry have not been fair to us. When they gave us autonomy, they said they were going to move us to a new salary structure. But when we looked at the whole thing, we were worse off. We have used every means to appeal to them, but to no avail”, one of the aggrieved members said.
UTAG, Universities’ Senior Staff on strike
While the workers of the C.K. Tadem university staff are on strike, the mother union of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) as well as the Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana, have also declared a strike.
UTAG has been asking the government to restore the conditions of service for its members that were agreed upon with the government in 2012.
The 2012 conditions of service pegged the Basic plus Market Premium of a lecturer at $2,084.42.
UTAG has complained that the current arrangement has reduced its members’ basic premiums to $997.84.
The Universities’ Senior Staff on the other hand has been asking for the award of market premiums and non-basic allowances, as well as the finalization of negotiations of their conditions of service.
The association earlier accused the government of “contemptuous and total disregard to the National Labour Commission’s (NLC) directives on January 28, 2021, upon hearing from both parties to resolve all our concerns within a three-month stipulated period, which also regrettably elapsed on March 31, 2021, repugnantly.”
