UTAG boycott is justified - President

Accra, May 15, GNA - Professor Stephen Osei, National President of the University Teachers Association (UTAG), on Monday said lecturers are not interested in industrial actions that cause undue hardships to students.

However, they have no other option after a long struggle for better salaries and conditions of service have not been met. He said they would embark upon an indefinite sit down strike action if their proposals were not given the necessary attention.

Prof. Osei was speaking at a press conference in Accra to explain the motive for the week-long strike action by University lecturers which started on Monday. He said their demands are not unreasonable as stated by Mr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Minister of Education adding that they were asking for only 50 per cent of what their colleague part-time lecturers receive.

He said for five years now they have not had any positive response to their grievances as far as their salaries and conditions of service are concerned. "We have strained every nerve in us to try to maintain the academic standards at our universities in the face of deplorable infrastructure, equipment and books."

Prof. Osei said even though the issue had frequently attracted expressions of sympathy at every forum, it has never been converted into remedial action. He said a report by the Price Waterhouse and Associates that University lecturers are over paid and needed salary cut belittles the lecturer and it is a contributory factor to their strike action.

UTAG, he said, is now fed up after waiting for such a long time and thinks that it is time "to start running instead of crawling." "We have been crawling for too long", he added. Prof. Osei said since UTAG does not deal directly with government in such matters but operates through the University Councils, as represented by the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principal (CVCP), letters were sent to them.

"They in turn consider our position and make their own recommendations after which they invite UTAG for a reconciliation meting. He said a meeting earlier in the day with the university council to settle the misunderstanding of figures quoted by UTAG was successful. He assured students that they hope to reschedule lectures and appealed to students to keep calm.

Mr Mark Opoku, Press and Information secretary of the student's representative council, said they think the lecturers are fighting a just cause and appealed to government to intervene to halt any further disruptions in the academic calendar.