The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and the Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) have cautioned government over plans to cancel some allowances without prior negotiations.
According to the two unions, it has come to their notice that the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) is circulating a letter to public universities intending to cancel some allowances that were negotiated as part of conditions of service during the height of the economic downturn.
They are of the view that these allowances were agreed upon after extensive deliberations, hence any decision to terminate them must first be discussed between the parties involved beforehand.
President of UTAG, University for Development Studies (UDS) chapter, Dr Felix Y. T. Longi – who disclosed this to the B&FT in Tamale, cautioned that failure to listen to this warning and engage the tertiary unions will result in strike action.
“What the unions want is engagement to address the issue, and failure to provide this will compel us to lay down our tools. These allowances were negotiated as part of the conditions of service, and we believe that it is not right to just cancel them unilaterally without engagement,” he said.
Office-holding positions in Public Universities and the cancellation of some offices/positions
Meanwhile, the B&FT has sighted an internal letter signed by UTAG and GAUA executives of the UDS chapter, addressed to management of the university in response to a letter the authorities issued to all Deans and Directors to effect the implementation of ‘Office Holding Positions in Public Universities’ and the cancellation of some offices/positions.
The Minister of Education, Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Minister of Finance, Chief Executive Officer of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), Chief Executive Officer of the National Labour Commission (NLC) and the Vice Chancellor of UDS were all copied in the said letter.
“Members of UTAG and GAUA-UDS observed that cancellation of the positions was done without recourse to and consultations with members of public university unions across the country, who are critically affected by these unilateral decisions.
“We observed the controlling, micromanaging behaviour and ‘headmaster’ act of GTEC regarding the public universities’ day-to-day administration and academic autonomy system, which members will resist,” it stated.
The unions have also cautioned against attempts by the GTEC to subtly implement the Public Universities Bill (PUB) that key stakeholders of higher education in Ghana rejected.
“Indeed, GTEC’s actions are increasingly threatening the autonomy of public universities as they undermine the various university councils, making them redundant and powerless. This is an unhealthy development.
“We know that parts of the rejected PUB are being implemented through the back-door using the GTEC law. This is a threat to the autonomy of public universities and an attack on academic freedom,” they expressed.
UTAG requested an immediate stop to the implementation process of this unilateral and non-consultative decision of GTEC, and therefore called on government and the respective institutions to intervene.
