The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has issued a warning to the government on matters bordering on its conditions of service.
According to the UTAG, it will not compromise on already reached agreements with the government for improved conditions of service as it pursues a bailout from the International Monetary Fund, IMF.
In a statement issued on July 4, UTAG said the government’s resort to IMF has caused it to feel uneasy as the move will have a negative impact on its members and public sector workers at large.
“As a Labour Union that trains and produces the nation’s workforce, including those involved with providing the requisite policies for economic growth and development in the country, UTAG would have preferred Government to seek homegrown solutions to our economic woes.
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“This is premised on our recent unpleasant history of previous engagements with IMF. We, thus, feel uneasy with the Government’s decision given its potential negative impact on UTAG members, and by extension public sector workers, and its repercussion on the operations of Public Universities,” portions of the statement read.
UTAG added that it is ready to assist government with its ‘world-class experts’ in economic matters as it engages the IMF.
Notwithstanding this, UTAG urged the government to ensure that the support agreed with IMF does not affect the conditions of service of labour unions.
The Association stressed that it would not tolerate any conditionality that affects existing agreement for improved conditions of service.
“UTAG is, by this statement, ready to provide technical backstopping support services to the government to analyse the policy options and develop the programme for effective and efficient engagement with the IMF.
“We wish to state that the Government of Ghana must ensure that the conditions subsequent to the support will not disadvantage the Conditions of Service of Labour Unions, including UTAG. In particular, UTAG would not tolerate any IMF conditionality that negatively affects the existing agreements between Government and UTAG to improve the Conditions of Service of our members,”
It will be recalled that UTAG embarked on a nearly 3-month strike action last year to press home their demand for better conditions of service.
It however suspended the strike following assurances from the government to address their concerns.
Read The Full Statement of UTAG Below:
