The government has been directed by the National Labour Commission, NLC, to resolve the grievances of Technical university teachers in the country.
This was made known in a statement issued by the Technical University Teacher’s Association of Ghana (TUTAG) after meeting with the NLC.
“TUTAG is happy to announce that the government has been directed to resolve all issues [raised by TUTAG] within 60 days. (ie 2 months). The order was given after the National Labour Commission observed that our strike was legal,” the Association noted in the statement.
Members of TUTAG began a nationwide strike on June 14, 2021, to demand the payment of their 2018/2019 Research arrears, negotiation of their conditions of service, among other issues.
The association however announced the suspension of the strike on Saturday, June 19, 2021, after receiving a favourable response from the Minister of Education, Osei Yaw Adutwum.
“After listening to the Education Minister, we observed that there are still individuals in political positions that citizens can trust. From our observations of his verbal and non-verbal communication, we could see the natural sincerity that was oozing from both this verbal and non-verbal communication. Our encounter with Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum was the beginning of the shift of TUTAG from mistrust to mutual trust, hence the decision to reconsider our position.”
In its statement, TUTAG noted that: “Though our strike has been declared legal, and we could have decided to remain on strike till all our issues were resolved, we wish to inform the Education Minister that our decision to suspend the strike with immediate effect was based on our trust and confidence in his assurances. The word worthy of note is “suspend”. We are only suspending the strike to give Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum the benefit of the doubt”.
According to TUTAG, besides the assurances of the Education Minister, it has also secured two important documents that would facilitate the resolution of its demands.
They include a letter from the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to begin negotiations on the 29th of June 2021, and a ruling from the National Labour Commission that contains timeliness within which the issues should be resolved.
Read the full statement from TUTAG
TUTAG SUSPENDS STRIKE
We wish to thank the media of this country for the sound manner in which they amplified our concerns.
If the media were not to exhibit absolute impartiality and objectivity in their reportage the government could have branded TUTAG as a bunch of lazy and unpatriotic citizens who just feel like sitting at home and taking salaries. The diligent work as journalists resulted in the massive public sympathy that this strike enjoyed.
THE ISSUES
The main issues that sent TUTAG members packing bag and baggage from the lecture halls. were:
- Condition Of Service (COS)
- Tier-2 Pension Payment
- Research arrears
- Accreditation of TU’s Programs
- Scheme Of Service (SOS)
TUTAG is happy to announce that government has been directed to resolve all these issues
within 60 days. (ie 2 months). The order was given after the National Labour Commission (NLC) observed that our strike was legal.
ENGAGEMENTS WITH GOVERNMENT
In the course of the strike, one striking observation was made by TUTAG during its meeting with new Minister of Education (MoE) and that is sincerity. After suffering from the results of non-committal promises from politicians and government agencies, TUTAG resolved upon declaring the strike that it was taking every promise of government with a pinch of salt. That is, it was never going to backdown based on promises.
However, when TUTAG met the Education Minister, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum something phenomenal happened. We have met politicians who promised to take us to heaven alive, and we believed them and went back to sleep, only to wake up and find ourselves in the same pool of academic and financial injustices. But after listening to the Education Minister, we observed that there are still individuals in political positions that citizens can trust. From our observations of his verbal and nonverbal communication, we could see the natural sincerity that was oozing from both his verbal and nonverbal communication. Our encounter with Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum was the beginning of the shift of TUTAG from mistrust to mutual trust, hence the decision to reconsider our position.
Though our strike has been declared legal and we could have decided to remain on strike till all our issues were resolved, we wish to inform the Education Minister that our decision to suspend the strike with immediate effect was based on our trust and confidence in his assurances. The word worthy of note is “suspend”. We are only suspending the strike to give Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum the benefit of the doubt.
Besides the assurance of the Education Minister, we have also secured two important documents that would facilitate the resolution of our issues;
- A letter from the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) to begin negotiation on the 29th June, 2021. For this reason, we appreciate the efforts of the Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Relations Hon. Bright Wireko-Brobbey and the Chief Executive Officer of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), Dr. Edward Kwapong so far.
- A ruling from the National Labour Commission (NLC) that contains timelines within which the issues should be resolved.
Haven received positive responses from the general membership of the Union, based on the assurances of the duty bearers, Congress has decided that the ongoing strike has been suspended.
TUTAG wishes to thank the Ghanaian media and the general public for sympathizing with us in the course of the strike.
Thank you.
Dr. Michael Brigandi
National President
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