President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has urged stakeholders negotiating the conditions of service of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) not to take entrenched positions and disrupt academic work in the universities.
President Akufo-Addo said, “it is in the interest of all of us that there’s no disruption to academic work,” adding that the teachers should have the wherewithal to undertake this essential obligation that they have.
President Akufo-Addo, at a meeting with the National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) at the Jubilee House in Accra on Wednesday, commended members of UTAG for their decision to suspend their strike.
He appealed to the negotiating parties to commit to the roadmap they had agreed upon to resolve their differences.
Members of the UTAG some weeks ago embarked on a strike action to protest against the government’s failure to complete negotiations with the Association on their conditions of service, which started in August 2018.
The National Labour Commission described the strike action as illegal and took legal action against UTAG. Both parties have agreed on a roadmap to settle their grievances.
President Akufo-Addo expressed optimism that the roadmap agreed between the stakeholders would be positive.
The President of NUGS, Emmanuel Boakye Yiadom, commended the government for convincing UTAG to return to the negotiation table and appealed to the stakeholders involved in the discussions not to take entrenched positions that would affect academic activities in the universities.
Rex Mainoo Yeboah, ISD
