The University Teachers Association – Ghana (UTAG) has said their employer has been dragging its feet on meeting their demands.
President of University Teachers Association – Ghana (UTAG), Prof Solomon Nunoo, told Media THE Market Premium are to be implemented and reviewed every five years.
“It means that since Single Spine started in 2009 there should have been a review of the Market Premium in 2014 and another in 2019 and all of these review periods have not taken place,” he added.
According to him, a report on their Market Premium came without any guidelines or roadmap for its implementation; neither were there any timelines.
“So basically, it has to do with our Market Premium which unfortunately for us in 2013 there was a freeze on the Market Premium which use to be 114% of the basic salary. So presently what is happening is that we are having a Market Premium which is 50% because of the freeze on our basic salary,” the President stated.
He continued “So you will notice that the amount of money we are receiving in terms of Market Premium has reduced drastically. We are unable to meet a lot of the needs that we want to actually work on. That is the main reason why we issued the communique for us to embark on the strike action because it seems time and again our employer is just buying time and not ready to implement what will inure to the benefit of our members.”
The President said they are demanding that the government implement what was agreed and institute the 114% basic salary which they enjoyed in 2013.
“What I expect my employer to do is to make sure we get the 114% of the basic salary as our Market Premium and we urge the employer to get that done. They can take all the time they have so that they can use that time to put in all the necessary measures to get things done well,” he added.
UTAG embarked on a nation-wide strike from Monday, January 10 2022 until further notice.
In a statement dated January 8, 2022, the Association cataloged a number of reasons on they want to lay down their tools.
According to the Association, the members have decried the pittance agreed to be paid as annual research allowance and would want to have the government reconsider the payment of a more realistic research allowance.
They also disclosed the worsening Conditions of Service (CoS) of the University Teacher and the failure of the Employer in addressing the plight of UTAG members within the agreed timelines among others.
Meanwhile, the Association is scheduled to meet the Employer by the 15th of January 2022 on the negotiations.
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