The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) has debunked news circulating in the media that has been attributed to one of its officers – saying lecturers can resign if they do not like their current working conditions.
In a press release issued by the Commission, it expressed disappointment over what it calls a malicious publication attributed to the Acting Director for Research, Monitoring and Evaluation and Head of Public Affairs, Mr. Earl Ankrah, over an interview it granted Accra-based radio-3FM when commenting on the current University Teachers Association (UTAG) strike.
The Commission says Mr. Ankrah was taken out of context when he referred to the relevant laws and policy instruments to explain how UTAG’s strike sits with tenets of the Single Spine Pay Policy (SSPP); thereby generating insults, threats, political colouration and character assassinations from readers – who were not granted an opportunity to listen to the interview.
“In the interview, Mr. Ankrah referred to the relevant laws and policy instruments to explain how UTAG’s strike sits with tenets of the SSPP. And to a generic question on the entitlements of an employee, he elaborated on the obligation of both employers and employees to exercise good faith within the work space – the absence of which can lead to a worst-case scenario of resignation. It was not in direct reference to UTAG. In effect, responses to two different questions were mischievously treated as one.
“The report also maliciously attributed a quote to Mr. Ankrah – to the effect that UTAG Executives failed to honour an invitation of the National Labour Commission (NLC) on Wednesday 12th January 2022 – when indeed he did not say that,” the statement said.
The Commission has hence expressed regret over any inconvenience the misinformation may have caused to UTAG and other stakeholders; and further assured that Mr. Ankrah is committed to working with the highest level of professionalism.
“Mr. Ankrah is a consummate professional, who has served this nation with passion throughout his career life starting from the state broadcaster Ghana Television; and he is still a dedicated and committed public servant here at FWSC.
“We wish to express our regrets to UTAG members and other workers nationwide, who understandably feel aggrieved by this unfortunate misrepresentation by 3news.com.
In this light, we call on 3news.com and TV3 to pull down the story, along with the unfortunate sentiments it generated. We also request that they upload the full audio, to accord the good people of Ghana direct access to the unfiltered, unadulterated context of the interview; and to relieve offended readers of the psychological assault,” the statement said.
