Two state institutions to fight over UTAG-UESD demands

The National Labour Commission (NLC) has initiated legal action against the Ministry of Education for refusing to honour a prior agreement.

The Commission had instructed the Ministry to expeditiously address the concerns raised by the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) branch of the University of Environment and Sustainable Development.

The grievances stemmed from the government’s non-disbursement of the Online Teaching Support Allowance, which had led to a strike.

Despite multiple attempts to elicit a response from the Ministry, there was no satisfactory engagement with the union’s concerns, prompting the National Labour Commission to resort to legal measures.

Ofosu Asamoah, the Executive Secretary of the National Labour Commission, spoke to Citi News about the situation, stating, “At the last hearing, the Commission realized that its directive given to the Ministry of Education for the payment of some allowances and certain actions to be taken in respect of their issue with the university had not been done.

“So the Commission directed that the legal department take an enforcement and compliance of their audit. So the case has since been referred to the legal department to go to court”.

Meanwhile the union, on March 5, 2024, officially called off its indefinite strike indicating that it was based on humanitarian grounds.

Dr. Maximillan Robert Selorm Doku, the union’s treasurer, revealed to Citi News that the NLC has directed the executive secretary to pursue legal action, and the matter is currently in process.

“The NLC has directed the executive secretary to take the matter to court so it's being processed. We are looking forward to the Ministry of Education. Meanwhile, because of one or two things and other humanitarian grounds, we have called off the strike,” the treasurer of the union, Dr Maximillan Robert Selorm Doku said.

-citinewsroom