The National Labour Commission (NLC), says it may file a case of contempt against the leadership of the University Teachers Association of Ghana, UTAG, if the latter continues to defy a court order asking them to call off their strike and return to work.
The Commission on Friday secured an interlocutory injunction from the Labour Court 1 to compel UTAG to call off their strike which started on Monday August 2.
The directive follows an indication by members of UTAG that they will not return to the lecture halls until the government addresses their concerns relating to their conditions of service.
But the Executive Secretary of the National Labour Commission, Ofosu Asamoah, said the Commission is allowing for some grace period and will be compelled to return to court to cite them for contempt.
“Media reports are indicating that they have decided to defy the court orders and if that is what they are going to do, then we would have to go to court to cite their leaders for contempt… If they don’t comply by close of day. By tomorrow [Tuesday], we should be in court,” he said.
Mr. Ofosu Asamoah said the National Labour Commission will continue its work as an arbiter and try to address the impasse between the university teachers and the government.
It expressed the hope that after a meeting on Wednesday, UTAG members will return to the classroom.
“The NLC will continue to play its role as an independent arbiter, and the Commission will meet them on Wednesday, and I’m sure by then they would have resumed.”
UTAG members have been on strike since the beginning of August because they want the government to restore the conditions of service agreed upon in 2012 which they said was far better than the current situation.
The strike by UTAG has severely affected academic and some non-academic work at the various tertiary campuses.
The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, University of Ghana and other tertiary institutions have already announced a suspension of examinations due to the situation, with no end in sight for the strike.
Concerning the court injunction on their strike, the National President of UTAG, Prof. Charles Marfo in a Citi News interview said its National Executive Committee is yet to take a decision on whether or not to call off the strike based on the development.
“When the NEC meets, and they think that what the government or the courts are demanding we have to go by them, we will… It is unfortunate that when we have not been heard, we will be dragged to court. It seems like people are using power unnecessarily because they have it, so they can use it to force us to go into the classroom… If you force us to the classroom, can you force us to teach?” he quizzed.
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Source: Citi News
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1. There is an agreed salary by both lecturers and government
2. Government never paid the agreed salary
2. UTAG never went on strike but decided to engage government
3. For 3 years UTAG attended 10 meetings but government side never came for the meetings especially Minister of Finance
4. UTAG wrote to National Labor Commission twice about the behavior of government
5. National labor commission never responded
6. UTAG announced strike
7. Government then called for a meeting and UTAG attended
8. Minister of finance said he cannot pay the agreed salary of which they signed
9. He said if we are not happy we can leave the job and he left the meeting while all other stakeholders were still seated
10. UTAG embarked on the strike
11. National labor commission took UTAG to court
12. Instead of national labor commission to take government to court for not honoring their own agreement, it rather took UTAG to court for saying the government should honor the agreement
12. If this is not arrogance on the part of the minister of finance, then what is it
13. If the national labor commission is not just a poddle of the government, then what is it
14. If this government is not disrespectful to lecturers, then what is it
15. If government has control over all state institutions to use them to disadvantaged workers, then we too we can write
16. From Monday UTAG is going to write everything negative thing about this government
17. Enough is enough
18. They approve everything about them in less than 24 hours
19. Even to the extend that they want to pay their wives
20. No spurtinick V has been purchased but the minister of health, finance and their cronies have paid the money to Sheikh Alkatun and shared the money among themselves
21. Ghanaians have brought a curse to themselves by voting for this government