The President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) at the C. K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences (CKT-UTAS) Dr Jonas Bugase has sent a strong indication that the workers’ unions at the institution are not going to back down on their industrial strike action until government and its collaborators satisfy their needs.
He said this while confirming the strike action by the workers’ unions to Samuel Mbura on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show. The worker’s unions embarking on the strike action are; University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA), Senior Staff Association-Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG) and the Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union (TEWU).
Dr. Bugase said the Unions are disappointed by the failure of stakeholders to address the concerns of the lecturers. “This is an unfortunate situation we find ourselves in, that is why as at yesterday, we had to resume the suspended strike. A lot of academic work is still ongoing. We have students engaged in online learning. We also have students on industrial attachment who are yet to be assessed. We also have other academic work ongoing. Admissions and other concerns are all on hold”.
“Until we have gotten a roadmap with timelines when these processes are going to be executed and we have concrete arrangements to make sure that we receive our salaries at the end of every month, I do not think that we are prepared to call off the strike,” he explained.
Background
Workers’ Unions at the C. K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences (CKT-UTAS) have resumed their industrial strike action to drum home their concerns. The Unions, University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA), Senior Staff Association-Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG) and the Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union (TEWU), said the resumption of the strike was necessitated by the failure of Controller and Accountant General Department (CAGD), the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) and Management of CKT-UTAS to adhere to the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) that was signed by the Unions and Government on the 17th of August, 2021.
They made this known in a statement signed by the CKT-UTAS UTAG President Dr Jonas Bugase, CKT-UTAS SSA-UoG Chairman Mr. Fatai Usman, CKT-UTAS GAUA President Mrs Juliana Agalga and the CKT-UTAS TEWU Chairman Mr Ayuu Samuel Avipio and copied to a1radioonline.com.
According to the statement, the MoU signed between the Unions and government stipulated conditions that were to be met by the CAGD before the migration of the workers unto the CAGD-IPPD2.
“These Conditions included the installation of an IPPD2 application software on the various Campuses, the training of personnel of the Finance Directorates of both campuses on the use of the IPPD2 system: The need for CAGD to undertake a three-month test run with existing payroll data, parallel to the present payroll systems of the individual campuses so as to rectify all discrepancies; and the need for the status quo on all Campuses to remain as directed by NLC until these key conditions are met,” the statement disclosed.
The Workers’ Unions through the statement said that “four months down the lane, none of these has happened on the CKT UTAS and SDD-UBIDS”.
A1Radioonline.com|101.1MHz| Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
