The Leadership of the Tertiary Education Workers Union of Ghana (TEWU-GH) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology has taken a firm stand against any authority that seeks to oppose the impending strike action scheduled to commence on Thursday, February 1st, 2024.
The union's demands align with those of the Senior Staff Association and the University Administrators, who are currently in the third week of a strike aimed at protesting directives that pose a threat to their conditions of service.
It is anticipated that the strike will have a significant impact on essential operational services such as sanitation management, security, hospital facilities, fire stations, and other academic support services across public university campuses in the country.
Already, the closure of facilities including University Basic Schools has been initiated as a result of the participation of approximately ten thousand workers from the university labor force in the strike action.
Charles Arthur, the Local Chairman of TEWU-GH at KNUST, emphasized the union's unwavering determination to ensure that no university authority obstructs the industrial action. He expressed concerns about alleged clandestine efforts by heads of faculty and university managers to engage striking staff and other workers to carry out duties that have been abandoned by the agitating workers.
Arthur emphasized the importance of respecting the strike, highlighting Section 170 of the labor act which prohibits the temporary replacement of labor during a lawful strike. He emphasized that this provision is a law passed by the Parliament of Ghana and should be strictly adhered to.
In addition to calling for the withdrawal of a directive from the Ghana Technical Education Council to suspend overtime and extra duty allowances, TEWU-GH is also demanding that the government disburses 9 months of their tier two pensions to their fund managers.
Furthermore, the union is advocating for the harmonization of a vehicle maintenance allowance, which they argue is marred by discriminatory practices. They highlighted instances where university managers have allocated motorbike allowances to staff, despite their eligibility for a car allowance based on their mode of transportation.
Suleman Abdul Rahman, the national Chairman of TEWU-GH, announced the strike on the KNUST campus on behalf of the National Executive Council. He reiterated the union's readiness to engage in negotiations with the aim of safeguarding the conditions of service for its members.
-src starrfm | curated by Aisha Yakubu | Mydailyreports24
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