The Senior Staff Association of Public Universities of Ghana (SSA-UoG) and the Federation of Senior Staff of Universities (FUSSAG) have justified their decision to embark on indefinite strike action.
According to them, the government has continued to deliberately refuse to pay compulsory occupational pensions since last year, despite countless efforts by the government leadership to restore the system.
A Joy News investigation conducted at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), University of Development Studies (UDS) and University of Ghana (UG) on 18 January 2024 found that staff will continue to take industrial action until the next deadline. It showed that he was determined. The government decides to deal with this.
In KNUST, the SSA-UoG said the situation was beyond their control and the strike was the only way to force the government to address their plight.
one of the senior staff members said joy newsNana Boakye Yadam said: “The main problem has to do with Tier 2, which the government holds and has not paid since February last year. That is our main problem. This is an issue that we have consulted with the government many times and tried to get them to address this issue.”
He explained that the government has refused to address their concerns, which are reflected in the money received by members who have recently entered pension life.
“The government has refused to address this issue. Some of our members live on pensions, but when you look at the amount given to them, you realize that the government is not actually taking care of our lives. “We see that we are making it difficult. That is our own problem,” he added.
Again, he said he had been informed of the government’s intention to further reduce fixed allowances from 50% to 10%.
“The second issue concerns the information we have gathered that the government intends to cut our allowance. It is overtime pay, fixed overtime pay of 50% to 10%. The allowance has a new name: “call-in allowance.”
“This is something we have had in place for a very long time and we feel this is going to impact our members. Imagine if your salary was reduced to that level. “This is a matter of great concern to us and those are the two main reasons why we have come together to launch this industrial action,” he added.
At UDS in Tamale, Joy News’ Martina Bugli reports, the situation remained unchanged as many of the staff insisted they would not return to classrooms until the government addressed their concerns.
UDS SSA-UoG Chairman Mohammed Zakari said the situation could have been addressed if the government had prioritized higher education.
“The impact of the government’s measures is unacceptably severe, especially for those who retired between 2020 and 2023. Rejected and now facing extreme poverty and disease at home,” he said.
The association acknowledged that its actions were counterproductive, but said it intended to continue industrial action until the necessary steps were taken to address the situation.
Mohamed Zakari stressed that “the Ghanaian government must be held responsible for all the suffering that will result from the strike.”
Also, when you talk to me, joy newJames Yakubu, Blessed Soga reporter and director of SSA-UoG at the University of Ghana, explained that advance notice had been given to the government before the decision to initiate industrial action. However, the government’s refusal to respond to their message led to the strike.
“Before embarking on a strike like this, you have to notify the government at least within a certain number of days, two weeks. We did that on January 4 and we haven’t heard anything from them. ” he said.
He said that after they declared industrial action, he saw communiqués “flying around” saying that the Labor Council would bring them to the bargaining table. However, no other official notification was received.
However, he said he was ready to negotiate once he received formal notification.
“If you work in a university for over 40 years and you come home, some people will give you GH 2,000, some give you GH 1,500. These are the realities on the ground. When it comes to our pensions, they give us No respect. They do it anyway,” he added.
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