The leadership of the Students Representation Council (SRC) of the University of Ghana has appealed to University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) to return to the lecture halls.
The SRC issued a statement on Thursday urging UTAG to “as difficult as it is, reconsider their decision and take the deal being proposed by government so that this issue is solved once and for all in order for students to enjoy the teaching services they have paid for”.
The SRC said that the statement was premised on the fact that their “most loyal and hardworking lecturers have stated their stance enough to the attention of Ghanaians and not because the lecturers were “being insensitive”.
Members of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) served notice on Thursday, March 28, 2013 to embark on strike demanding immediate payment of salary arrears owed them from last year.
A meeting between the Chief of Staff and other government representatives, on one side, and members of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), on the other, last Wednesday to resolve the current industrial action by university lecturers, ended inconclusively.
The statement also called on government to respect the “numerous agreements and communiqués they have signed with labour unions” and urged that” the three time payment plan being proposed, be strictly and religiously adhered to”.
It blamed the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) for the current impasse and said the strike was “having very precarious toll on the academic situation on the various University campuses” and could “even throw the academic calendars of the various Universities off gear”.
The strike has entered its fifteenth day today and so far student leaderships have been largely in support of the striking teachers.
Student leaderships of the University for Development Studies and National Union of Ghana Students (NUGS) have threatened to embark on demonstrations against government.
In recent times, the strike action by GMA appears to have overshadowed UTAG’s withdrawal of services
Source: ModernGhana.Com
