Staff of public universities in Ghana have called off their indefinite strike action with immediate effect, following a new agreement with the government on a roadmap for the payment of outstanding remuneration.
The suspension comes after an admission by the employer (government) that it unilaterally varied the conditions of service, including the off-campus and vehicle maintenance allowances of the unions, contrary to initial agreements.
“The employer agreed that it had unilaterally varied the conditions of services for staff at public universities without recourse to them,” the unions noted in a statement.
“The labor unions then agreed to a roadmap for the payment of all outstanding arrears resulting from the unilateral variation of the off-campus and vehicle maintenance allowances.” In addition, the employer assured the labor unions that it would resolve all outstanding issues related to the conditions of service of the aggrieved labor unions, the statement added.
Accordingly, at a meeting held on December 8, 2022, the unions decided to suspend their strike.
The labour unions in the public universities in Ghana—UTAG, GAUA, SSA-UoG, FUSSAG, and TEWU-GH—embarked on an industrial action on October 17, 2022, following poor conditions of service.
In their statement of October 17, 2022, the unions stated that the government, as the employer, did not heed a directive from the NLC for both parties to meet within one week after their last meeting to discuss their grievances but rather unnecessarily engaged a 10-member committee to address only their off-campus allowance.
