The National Labour Commission (NLC) says it will win the legal battle against the striking University Teachers Association of Ghana, (UTAG). According to the Executive Secretary of the NLC, Ofosu Asamoah, the lecturers do not have a strong case.
“We have till Thursday to go to Court. So we will just wait to make our case. The Court will decide the next move. If indeed UTAG has a point as they insist, the Court will decide that. What matters is that whatever happens is in the best interest of Ghanaians.”
Speaking on Accra-based radio station, Citi FM on Monday, he said “We are very confident of winning this case. UTAG is well aware of this.”
The NLC is seeking an interlocutory injunction from the High Court in Accra to compel the lecturers to return to work.
UTAG has already stated that it is prepared to launch strong legal arguments to continue with its industrial action in its quest for better conditions of service, in the case which is expected to be heard on Thursday, February 3, 2022.
The group withdrew from teaching and related activities on Monday, 10th January 2022.
According to UTAG, the strike action is in response to “the worsening Conditions of Service (CoS) of the University Teacher and the failure of the Employer in addressing the plight of UTAG members within the agreed timelines.”
Meanwhile, some university students have expressed worry and frustration over the possible shortening of the academic calendar due to the strike by the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG).
They said while COVID-19 had already disrupted much of the calendar, they feared the subsisting strike when called off eventually, would compel the lecturers to organise crash lectures and other activities which would not be in the interest of students.
Interacting with some of the students at the campuses of the University of Ghana and the Ghana Institute of Journalism, the students also lamented the payment of huge sums of money to secure hostels for a period, only to idle about on campus almost a month into the academic year.
For his part, the Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, has said his outfit is engaging the association.
“Unfortunately, university lecturers are on strike, but we’ll continue to engage them as to how best we can get them back,” he said at a press conference on Sunday, January 30, 2022.
Source: Graphiconline
