Meeting to end UTAG strike inconclusive
A meeting between the Chief of Staff and other government representatives, on one side, and members of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), on the other, Wednesday to resolve the current industrial action by university lecturers ended inconclusively.
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The President of UTAG, Dr Anthony Simmons, told the Daily Graphic that a proposal on issues raised by the university lecturers had been discussed at the Flagstaff House, but when the proposal was tabled before the constituents, they found it unacceptable.
“The strike, therefore, continues,” Dr Simmons said.
He added that the lecturers would continue the strike until an acceptable proposal was made by the government.
The President of UTAG would not elaborate on the proposal.
The meeting, called at the instance of the Chief of Staff, Mr Prosper Douglas Kweku Bani, pre-empted another meeting that was supposed to have been held between the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) and UTAG.
When the Chief Executive of the FWSC, Mr George Smith-Graham, was contacted, he confirmed that a meeting had been held at the Flagstaff House.
He, however, preferred that the outcome be communicated by the Chief of Staff, since the meeting had been at his instance.
When asked about the meeting that was supposed to have been called by the FWSC with UTAG, Mr Smith-Graham said that meeting could not come off because of the earlier one at the Flagstaff House.
He, however, did not believe that the Presidency involving itself in labour disputes undermined the independence of institutions such as the FWSC and the National Labour Commission.
"There is nothing wrong if the Chief of Staff calls us to hear both sides and mediate. It would be wrong if they were to call workers behind our back and agree to things not within our mandateor the framework within which negotiations are done,” he said.
"Meeting with the Chief of Staff does not also pre-empt us or the NLC from following through with prescribed rules or guidelines in relation to a specific issue," he added.
Mr Smith-Graham said the only problem with efforts by the Presidency to intervene in labour disputes was that those efforts sometimes created the misconception that the President ended up giving workers the allowances they sought for.
He said that could cause other labour unions to agitate and exert pressure for them to also have audience with the President.
However, he maintained, the FWSC was resolute and would go on with negotiations with a clear mandate and within the framework agreed on.
Story by Caroline Boateng
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