The Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) has cautioned that it will “name and shame” any members who ignore its order to fully observe an open-ended strike over differences in allowances between teaching and non-teaching senior staff in public universities.
The industrial action started on Monday, August 10, with the Association instructing all members to stay off duty until the matters in contention are fully addressed.
GAUA stated the protest targeted what it called a growing gap in Market Premium and other related allowances between Teaching Senior Members and Non-Teaching Senior Members.
The Secretary of the GAUA branch at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Phanuel Seli Kwadzo Asense, said the gap had reached a point that could no longer be overlooked.
“We are on strike, and it is simply because there is a widening disparity in the market premium offered by the government and related allowances,” he said. He noted that the Association was not against better conditions for teaching staff but was asking for equal treatment for non-teaching senior members.
“If you peg the least teaching staff allowance in relation to the highest non-teaching staff, you see a disparity of not less than 50% in terms of allowances,” Mr Asense said. He emphasised that the strike was not aimed at universities or teaching personnel.
“GAUA is not fighting non-teaching staff. Neither is it fighting the university. We are simply seeking the welfare of members,” he said. The Association said it has held talks with government and other stakeholders to settle the issue, but the responses so far have not met its expectations.
Mr Asense added that the matter was also raised at the Association’s recent conference in Sunyani, where members restated their stance on the allowance gap. He said GAUA would be willing to call off the strike if government shows willingness to reduce the difference in allowances paid to teaching and non-teaching senior members. “If the government is a listening government and listens to our demands in respect of breaking the gap between the disparity between senior members teaching and non-teaching, obviously Ghana will consider coming back from the strike,” he said.
The strike involves all classes of GAUA members, including IT personnel, accountants, doctors and development officers and was not restricted to particular departments.
Mr Asense said the Association will also check compliance to ensure members were not working from home or from their offices. “We are not doing it gradually; we are going to have a team on the ground to make sure that nobody is working either remotely or physically in the offices,” he said.
At KNUST, executives of the Association met members before the action and urged full adherence to the strike directive. The Association insists that while it backs better conditions for Teaching Senior Members, such upgrades should not disadvantage Non-Teaching Senior Members or create what it sees as unfair pay gaps.
