1,500 Dollars For UTAG

The Report by the Presidential Committee set up to look into the grievances of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has recommended that the government pays the 2008 attained target of the cedi equivalent of 1,500 dollars as agreed in the salary roadmap between UTAG and the government.

According to the report, the payment should be done for the year 2008 while the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) arranged to place the public universities on the Single Spine Salary Structure. “Any compensation is subject to tax, unless otherwise stated,” the report recommended.

The report, a copy of which is available to the Times newspaper, also recommended that any post 2008 outstanding claims by UTAG arising from the road map and expected earnings of the university senior members, should be paid.

The report, among other things, concluded that “in so far as the $1,500 was the target of the roadmap and remains the expected earnings of the university senior member, the erosion as a result of the fall in value of the cedi deserves consideration”. The report found discrepancies in the documents presented by UTAG to back their claims for the payment of the entry level salaries. It recalled the UTAG made a request to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MoFEP) through the FWSC for the restoration of the entry level salary of the lecturer as agreed in the salary roadmap (2004-2008).

It noted that initially, MoFEP accepted the request based on the recommendations from the FWSC and issued an authority for its payment, but the payment delayed as a result of the discrepancies in the documents relating to the claims.

The delay caused UTAG to go on strike, after which the President set up the committee to look into the matter. Giving its findings, the report said two documents which UTAG was claiming to be their salary roadmap, were actually reports on the roadmap and not the roadmap itself. It said a draft report on the roadmap did not include a clause in an updated version which stated that “after the end of the roadmap in 2008, general increase in salary approved by the government will apply.

That, according to the report, meant that the roadmap ended 2008. It also found that the $1,500 targeted income in the roadmap was paid in Ghana cedis at the rate of GH¢1 to $1 in 2008. The report gave the breakdown for that payment as GH¢472, 72 for basic salary, GH¢945, 45 for professional allowance and per month for special book allowance. After 2008, it said UTAG expected the senior member to receive a cedi equivalent of $1,500 as entry point salary.

In addition, it said after 2008, UTAG continued to receive the cedi equivalent of $1,500 without adjustment for changes in the exchange rate, adding that in 2009 and 2010, UTAG benefited from the 17 percent and 10 percent across the board general salary increase respectively.