The National Labour Commission (NLC) has instructed the Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union (TEWU) of the Trades Union Congress, the Senior Staff Association of Public Universities, and the Federation of Universities Senior Staff to end their strike.
The unions initiated the strike in protest against the government’s neglect of pension issues and the alleged unfair termination of their overtime allowances.
After a meeting with the unions in Accra on Wednesday, Ofosu Asamoah, the Executive Secretary of the NLC, informed journalists that it was appropriate for the unions to halt the strike and engage in negotiations with the government to address their concerns. He emphasized that, according to the law, these unions couldn’t negotiate while still on strike.
Mr. Asamoah also conveyed that the government was willing to negotiate with the unions, expressing confidence that they would comply with the directive.
“By law, if you are still on the strike, you can’t negotiate. The law frowns on it. You can’t even wear red bands. It is intimidating. You brought up three issues, and two have been solved. The first one, your allowances have been resolved, the UMAT and the UCC have been solved. The third one, which is in issue, the party against whom you are says I am guilty; however, let’s sit down and know how to correct it,” Mr. Asamoah explained.
Mark Korankye, the General Secretary of TEWU, stated that the unions would consult their members before making a final decision.
“NLC has given directives that the Ministry of Finance should meet with us to discuss and resolve the matter by the 1st of February. There are also issues that GTEC has to also resolve as far as overtime and other issues are also concerned. So they have also been directed to, as a matter of urgency, get this matter resolved. To the unions, the Commission says call off your strike,” said Korankye.
“Before we can make any pronouncement on that, since we are only representatives here, we have to go and confirm with our rank and file and other leaders who are not here. So we are going to call a meeting of our members probably tomorrow or Friday, and then we will discuss what transpired here,” he added.
