General News of Monday, 8 April 2013
Source: Joy Online
Government has described as regrettable, the situation where striking university teachers still draw their salaries for the number of days that they have stayed away from the lecture halls.
Members of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) last week declared an indefinite industrial action to protest unpaid market premium dating back to 2012.
A release issued by Minister for Information and Media Relations, Mahama Ayariga noted: “It as regrettable that university teachers are not teaching presently even though their full salaries and allowances, as enhanced by the implementation of the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS), are being paid them even for the days that they stay away from work”.
“University teachers have been fully paid their monthly salaries and other allowances for every month that they have worked in 2013. In 2012 they were paid all their salaries and other benefits except the market premium which is an allowance that was in dispute and was a subject matter before the National Labour Commission (NLC). The Commission decided that Government was liable to pay the allowance.”
“The National Labour Commission agreed with the proposal of Government and directed that the arrears of the allowances for 2012 should be paid in 3 equal installments in May, July and September. Essentially, the action of UTAG is seeking to pressurize Government to violate the directives of the NLC and to compel Government to make a lump sum payment”.
The statement therefore appealed to UTAG to call off the strike and return to the lecture halls as government has agreed to pay their allowances, according to the National Labour Commission (NLC) directives.