The National Labour Commission (NLC) has directed the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) of the Trades Union Congress(TUC), the Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG), and the Federation of Universities Senior Staff to call off their strike.
The Senior Staff Association of the Public Universities in Ghana and the Federation of Universities Senior Staff (FUSSAG) declared an indefinite nationwide strike on January 17, 2024, to demand better conditions of service and pension.
The Executive Secretary of the NLC Ofosu Asamoah engaging journalists after a meeting with the unions in Accra on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, said it will be very appropriate for the unions to call off the strike and negotiate with the government for their concerns to be addressed.
According to Mr. Asamoah, the unions cannot negotiate by law if they are still on strike.
He added that the government is ready to negotiate with the unions, adding that he believed the unions would heed the directive.
“By law, if you are still on the strike, you can’t negotiate. The law frowns on it. You can’t even wear red bands. It is intimidating. You brought up three issues, and two have been solved. The first one, your allowances has been resolved, and the UMAT and the UCC have been solved. The third one, which is in issue, the party against whom you are saying I am guilty; however, let’s sit down and know how to correct it,” Mr. Asamoah stated.
Mark Korankye, the General Secretary of the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) of the TUC, stated that the unions will consult their members before taking a final decision.
“NLC has given directives that the Ministry of Finance should meet with us to discuss and resolve the matter by the 1st of February. There are also issues that GTEC has to resolve as far as overtime and other issues are concerned. So they have also been directed to, as a matter of urgency, get this matter resolved. To the unions, the Commission says, call off your strike”.
“Before we can make any pronouncement on that since we are only representatives here, we have to go and confirm with our rank and file and other leaders who are not here. So we are going to call a meeting of our members probably tomorrow or Friday, and then we will discuss what transpired here,” he added.