The Bolgatanga Technical University (BTU) chapters of the Technical University Teachers’ Association of Ghana (TUTAG) and the Technical University Senior Administrators’ Association of Ghana (TUSAAG) have declared an indefinite strike over what they say is an attempt by the school’s Vice-Chancellor to vary portions of their Conditions of Service to their disadvantage.
According to the two unions, the Vice-Chancellor, under the pretext of ambiguities in the Technical Universities Act (2016), is seeking to pay their members retirement benefits only spanning from when the institution was converted to a Technical University.
This, they say, is contrary to the transitional provision under the Technical Universities Act (2016) Act 922 and a deliberate attempt to vary their Conditions of Service to their disadvantage.
They contended that employees of the institution before its transition are deemed, per the Act, to have been employed under its current status and are, therefore, entitled to retirement benefits spanning from the period they served under its erstwhile status.
“At separate meetings of the Bolgatanga Branch of the Technical University Teachers’ Association of Ghana (TUTAG) and the Technical University Senior Administrators’ Association of Ghana (TUSAAG) held on the 25th of August, 2023, it was unanimously agreed that our Vice Chancellor (VC) is seeking to vary portions of our Conditions of Service (COS) as approved by the Ministry of Finance (MOF), by hiding behind claims of ambiguities in the Technical Universities Act (2016), Act 922 as Amended, to which we out-rightly reject,” they stated.
“Therefore, with effect from 1.00 pm today, 25th August, 2023, we have withdrawn all our services. Our strike action is based on misinterpretations of portions of our COS pertaining to the retirement benefit by the Vice Chancellor to our disadvantage”.
They claimed all efforts to have the Vice-Chancellor rescind what they said is his misinterpretation of the Act have proved futile despite the fact that other TUs are implementing the new retirement benefits in line with their position.
The unions also rejected the decision by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) to refer the matter to the Attorney-General for interpretation, describing it as time wasting tactics.
They further demanded “immediate payment of the internal component of the Online Teaching Support Allowance (OTSA) and its accrued arrears for teaching staff that have not been paid since January, 2022, unlike other TUS that have paid up to date”.
The strike action, which took effect on Friday, August 25, 2023, has thrown the end of semester exams scheduled to commence today August 28, 2023 in limbo.
But the unions say they will only return to work if their demands are met.
