UG hasn’t been officially notified of continuing strike action, return to work – UG-UTAG told

Lecturers are expected to return to classrooms on Monday, February 28, despite votes to reject suspension of the strike according to UTAG, as part of its commitment to temporarily comply with the court order to resume work after an injunction was granted to the National Labour Commission (NLC).

However, UG-UTAG Chapter has noted their inability to comply with the decision of the Business and Executive Committee for the resumption of teaching today.

According to the Chapter in a mail signed by Secretary UG-UTAG, Prof. Ransford Gyampo, their resistance is because the UTAG-National Executive Committee’s decision to suspend the strike has been rejected by most members of public universities in Ghana.

Prof. Gyampo also noted that it would “not be prudent to commence teaching for a few days, only to resume the strike again, given the toll this may likely impose on students and parents.”

He further added that due to the trust deficit between UTAG and government, “members have indicated their preference to see the outcome of the talks/engagement (not negotiations) initiated by the government to resolve the impasse (which is expected to end on March 4, 2022), before they return to the classroom.”

In response to the Chapter’s decision by the school’s Registrar, Management reiterated that “the strike has been suspended” and since the Business Executive Committee has not varied this decision, “lectures are therefore expected to take place until such a time that the University is officially notified of a resumed strike action.”

Management further informed UG-UTAG of a directive from the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), requesting all public-funded universities to make provision for the resumption of teaching and academic activities.

In view of this, it said, “Heads of Department and Deans, under the supervision and direction of Provosts, are to ensure that academic work for 2021/22 starts on Monday, February 28, 2022, as earlier communicated.”