Senior staff of the University of Technology and Applied Sciences (UTAS) in Navrongo have officially joined the ongoing nationwide industrial action by Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG), citing unresolved concerns over conditions of service, unpaid arrears, and delayed pension contributions.
Speaking during a short declaration on the school’s campus on Tuesday February, 3, Chairman of the Senior Staff Association at the university, Abubakar Sulemana, said members were withdrawing their services with immediate effect.
“Today we are embarking on this strike action because of three main reasons.” He said.
According to him, the first grievance relates to what he described as attempts by the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to alter working conditions for senior staff across public universities, particularly the replacement of overtime allowances with a “call-in” system.
He explained that institutions such as the University of Ghana, the University of Health and Allied Sciences, and the University for Development Studies have already implemented the new arrangement, under which staff are paid only when officially called in to perform extra duties within prescribed working hours.
Senior staff, he warned, fear the model could soon be rolled out nationwide.
“Looking at the way things are unfolding, if we are not careful, this call-in allowance will definitely be implemented in all public universities. So, we said, no way”. He stated.
The second issue, he said, concerns outstanding allowances owed to staff following the merger of the National Film and Television Institute, the Ghana Institute of Journalism, and the Ghana Institute of Languages into the University of Media, Arts and Communication (UniMAC).
Although the government eventually placed affected workers on the appropriate salary scale, Sulemana insisted that arrears and associated entitlements remain unpaid.
“By the end of February, we want government to pay all the arrears that they are entitled to,” he stressed, adding that the union had already issued an ultimatum which has since expired.
The third concern he said involves delayed Tier Two pension contributions, which he described as critical to staff retirement security.
He noted that workers approaching retirement risk severe financial difficulty if the funds are not remitted to pension managers.
“For some number of months, the money is still pending. People’s lives depend on that Tier Two.” He said.
Sulemana said that senior staff would remain off duty until the government meets three core demands: reversal of the call-in allowance policy and restoration of overtime payments, settlement of UniMAC-related arrears, and full payment of outstanding Tier Two contributions and penalties.
“If the government is not able to pay those arrears, we will not be returning to work” He added.
Mike 105.3FM | Navrongo | Alexander Kubabom
