Government expresses disappointed in UG-UTAG’s decision not to call off strike

UTAG calls off nationwide strike

Government given 11 days to resolve UTAG demands

UG-UTAG says it does not trust government's role in deliberations

The government of Ghana has expressed disappointment in the decision by the members of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) at the University of Ghana, to not call off their prolonged nationwide strike as their mother body announced.

The leadership of UTAG announced on Tuesday, February 22, 2022, that it had agreed, after various meetings and deliberations, to momentarily call off the strike they started on January 10, until March 4, to give their employers a short window to finally resolve their concerns.

Following this, the UG branch of UTAG voted to accept or reject the decision by their national leadership, eventually agreeing not to call off their strike.

596 members voted to reject the decision, while only 127 members voted in support of it.

But according to a citinewsroom.com story, the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Education, Kwasi Kwarteng, gas expressed the ministry’s disappointment in the UG-UTAG decision.

He said that the government is hopeful in its continued engagements with other chapters of UTAG, positive that an end to this stalemate will be arrived at soon.

“It is very surprising that you have the NEC of a credible organization like UTAG saying that they have called off the strike, then you have other divergent views. It really raises a fundamental question on whether or not we are really bent on bringing this issue to an end. But fortunately, we have a majority of the NEC rooting for the decision that they should call off the strike. We in the Ministry of Education will remain committed, and we are very much open to engaging the leadership of UTAG, particularly the decision of the NEC which we believe is the supreme decision of the front,” he said.

In the meantime, Dr. Samuel Nkumbaan, the President of the UG-UTAG, said their rejection vote is a clear testament of the fact that they do not trust the government’s assurances in meeting their long-standing demands.

“We have been at the table for more than four years, and the main reason for which we have been at the negotiation has not been achieved. From last year, there were a number of MoUs we signed for which members believe that the government side failed to abide by. So the question of handling UTAG’s negotiation in good faith by government will come to play,” he said.