Members of the Bolgatanga Technical University branch of the Technical University Teachers’ Association of Ghana (TUTAG) and the Technical University Senior Administrators’ Association of Ghana (TUSAAG) have revealed that their strike over their conditions of service will continue until their concerns are addressed.
According to the chairman of TUSAAG, Richard A. Atia, the strike is based on the deliberate misinterpretations of portions of their condition of service pertaining to the retirement benefit by the Vice Chancellor of the University.
This, as members of the association noted, is only to disadvantage them.
He said that despite several attempts to get their issues addressed, all their efforts have since proved futile, thereby necessitating the strike action.
The Chairman explained that the Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Samuel Erasmus Alnaa, is seeking to vary portions of their Conditions of Service (CoS) as approved by the Ministry of Finance, adding that it was even more problematic because his interpretation will mean that all promotion and titles attained in the own system would be stripped off.
He said the Vice Chancellor’s interpretation of their conditions of service only sought to segment the payment of their retirement benefits for retirees by paying only three (3) months salary for the number of years served under the Polytechnic and then one (1) month’s salary for every year served, effective only after 2031.
He insisted that any TUTAG or TUSAAG member who served for a continuous 10 years under the erstwhile polytechnic system automatically qualifies as having accrued the right to enjoy this retirement benefit, as pertains to other technical universities (TUs) across the country.
The vice chairman of the TUSAAG, Awariya Solomon, added that the association was ready to engage with management to address the issue, emphasising that it has no interest in bringing the university to heel.
They revealed this when they spoke to Mark Smith on the A1 Radio Daybreak Upper East show regarding their on-going service and their conditions of service.
Meanwhile, at the time of filing this report, it had come to light that management of the school, together with the Governing Council have met with the leadership of TUTAG and TUSAAG. At this meeting, the VC of BTU, Prof Samuel Erasmus Alnaa, is said to have acquiesced to the demands of the unions and, as such, has appealed for an end to the strike action.
Meanwhile the unions insist that until the thoughts of the VC are properly put on paper, the strike would continue. Meanwhile, the new development is expected to be shared with union members by the leaders. A decision is expected to be taken by close of Thursday on the continuance or otherwise off the strike.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Gilbert Azeem Tiroog|Ghana
