Chief Executive Officer of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), Dr George Smith-Graham, expressed surprise that the Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) continues to strike despite signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Commission to address its salary-disparity concerns.

Speaking on the JoyNews AM Show on Monday, October 12, 2026, Dr Smith-Graham said negotiations with GAUA had been concluded, and the association had received its agreed payments.

GAUA reactivates nationwide strike over interim market premium disparity

He explained that the Commission had, however, agreed to consider fresh proposals from the association as part of efforts to address inequalities in the Single Spine Salary Structure.

According to him, the government has prioritised efforts to correct salary disparities across public sector institutions, with the FWSC and the Ministry of Finance working together to resolve the concerns.

He added that the Commission had concluded negotiations with 58 institutions, including GAUA.

“We have concluded negotiations with 58 institutions, including GAUA. We have signed an agreement with GAUA, concluded the negotiations with GAUA, and they have been paid,” he said.

Dr Smith-Graham attributed GAUA's decision to embark on industrial action to its dissatisfaction with the terms secured by the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) in its negotiations with the government.

He said GAUA believed UTAG had received a better deal, prompting the association to declare a strike.

“Immediately they noticed that UTAG had also come for their negotiations, then they said UTAG got more than them; and because UTAG got more than them, they declared a strike,” he said.

The FWSC CEO disclosed that GAUA representatives visited his office about a week ago, where both parties signed an MoU to allow further discussions on the association's concerns.

“When GAUA raised the issue, GAUA came to my office about a week ago. They signed a Memorandum of Understanding with me,” he said.

He said he asked the association to submit proposals outlining how to resolve the disparities and assured it that the Commission would study them.

“I said, give me some proposals on how we can resolve these inequities. We are also interested in resolving the inequities. We will study your proposal,” he said.

Dr Smith-Graham said he expected GAUA to suspend the strike after the meeting, which was intended to give the Commission time to review its proposals.

He said he was therefore surprised to learn on Friday that the strike was still ongoing.

“They signed that we are going to call off the strike, that they are giving us the time, only for me to hear on Friday that 'we are still on strike',” he lamented. “That really surprised me, because they came to sign an MoU with me,” he said.

Dr Smith-Graham reiterated that the Commission would review GAUA's proposals and respond by the end of October, insisting that the earlier negotiations had been concluded and the agreed payments made.

NA/VPO