We won’t call off our strike – UTAG

Members of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) across the country have resolved not to return to the lecture halls until the government addresses the Union’s concerns.

The leadership of UTAG at the various public Universities have been meeting their members to communicate the outcome of its meeting with the government.

At one of such meetings at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, UTAG members remained resolute and said they will not call off the ongoing strike.

The President of UTAG, Professor Charles Marfo, told Citi News that members of the association have asked for the strike to continue until their demands are met.

“In our last meeting with the government, it didn’t end well. It ended in a stalemate… We needed to sit down with them and tell them what has happened. We also needed to ask them about the way forward. One of the clear things that came out is that they [members] think that we should continue with the strike until government begins to pay good attention to our needs and concerns…. I understand UEW, GIJ, UDS, UENR, UHAS have said we should continue the strike and once we are all saying the same thing, we believe the government has to sit down with us and talk,” he said.

Amidst rumours that the government had secured an injunction to stop the strike, Prof. Marfo said UTAG has not received any such official document.

He stressed that UTAG’s members are extremely disgruntled about the government’s treatment, and although they are not enthused to stay home, they believe that they need to fight for better conditions of service for themselves.

“People are not happy at all, considering where we used to be in 2012 and how much our salaries have fallen. We plead with the public to understand what the situation is. No lecturer is interested in going on strike, but if push comes to shove and there is no option but to strike, then we have to go on strike.”