A meeting between the government specifically, the the Minister of Education and the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) to find a solution to the ongoing strike ended in a stalemate on Thursday morning.
According to the Daily Graphic, sources at the Ministry of Education said “the sides could not come to any agreement.”
After three hours of deliberations, which were aimed at addressing UTAG’s concerns, the meeting came to a close.
As a result, the parties decided to go to court to have the case decided, according to them.
Few days ago, the High Court (Labour Division) ordered the parties to address the matter outside court and report back to it on Thursday.
Representatives from the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, as well as the National Labour Commission, were present at the meeting headed by the Minister of Education, according to Dr Yaw Adutwum.
The meeting today follows one held last Tuesday, during which some progress was believed to have been achieved.
UTAG Strike Update on Court Case
The Accra Circuit Court’s Labour Division has ordered the National Labour Commission (NLC) and the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) to continue their out-of-court settlement negotiations.
Earlier, the judge, Frank Rockson Aboadwe, had ordered the two parties to consider an out-of-court settlement by Thursday, February 3 and report back at the next hearing on Thursday, February 10.
The two parties failed to reach an agreement as of the date the matter was re-called.
NLC invited UTAG to meet over the problem, but the latter declined, preferring to meet with government officials and report back to the latter.
The conference was scheduled to start on Tuesday, February 8, but it was unable to finish that day and had to be continued on Thursday.
The Current Decision
With no end in sight, Justice Aboadwe postponed the hearing to Tuesday, February 15.
Conclusion
Meeting with the Education Minister has ended in a deadlock and the Court Case has been Adjourned or hearing postponed to Tuesday, February 15, 2022.
Background of Story…
UTAG embarked on the industrial action on 10th January. The NLC then took UTAG to court after deeming the university teachers’ strike to be illegal.
The lecturers were thus told to return to the lecture halls, but they did not, causing the Commission to take legal action.
This follows last year’s strike which is all an attempt to demand better conditions of service from Government.
