The Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana (SSAUoG) says it is yet to finalize an agreement with the government on the demand for payment of Tier 2 pension arrears and other concerns they have raised over the years.
This comes after the association indicated that its members will still be on strike despite the government’s 15% Cost of Living Allowance(COLA) offer to organized labour.
National Chairman of the Association, Isaac Donkoh, said the group might suspend the strike if the agreement meets their demand.
“We have met with the ministries of education and labour. We are also supposed to sign some agreements with them, but when we got there, it looked as if, because of some emergencies, we couldn’t sign the agreements, so we had to come home. We agreed on five things, and the parties involved had to sign. When we got there, the ministers were not available. We are not going to call off the strike, but we are going to suspend it if our members are okay with the terms,” he said on Citi news.
The group said despite the government’s agreement for the payment of Cost of Living Allowance, its outstanding labour issues, such as the Tier 2 pension arrears remain unresolved.
“Our strike is still in force, so we have asked all our members to stay at home because COLA was one leg of our demands. The rest are still pending – the government is yet to meet us on the remaining demands, so we are still at home,” Isaac Donkor added.
The Senior Staff Association of the Universities of Ghana (SSAUoG), on Wednesday, 13 July 2022, joined their colleague teachers to declare a nationwide strike.
The group, which comprises administrative staff at the various universities in Ghana, joined a tall list of public sector unions demanding a 20% Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).
At a press briefing, General Secretary of the association, Hector Owoahene-Acheampong, said senior staff in the public universities were unfairly treated and thus the industrial action.
“Today, the Senior Staff of Public Universities will address you. I want to make this clear to all our workers. With this particular strike, we will not exempt any staff. Teaching staff, you are going home. Principal staff, you are going home. Drivers, you are going home.
“Yesterday, they threatened to freeze our salaries [if we embark on strike], and we will tell them we are capable [of declaring the strike]. We have said if we do not hear anything positive from them, we will lay down our tools. We are demanding 20 per cent COLA and nothing else,” the leaders directed its members.
Additionally, the members are also worried about what they describe as salary disparities at the universities.