The President of the University Teachers Association of Ghana, Professor Ransford Gyampo has claimed that there are efforts of government officials targeted at breaking the front of the association in the wake of their strike.
Prof. Gyampo, while speaking during TV3’s KEYPOINTS show on Friday, October 18, alleged that it could be seen that after failure to influence the leadership, government officials try to manipulate some members of the association. This comes after some members within the association claimed that the executives of the UTAG reached a decision to strike only after consulting a selected few.
“When that didn’t work, then they try to get to some of our people (UTAG members). They try to get to some of them and manipulating them and they’re trying to use them to break our front,” Gyampo he said.
According to the association’s president, he does not want to mention names of the members he said were manipulated, as doing so would contribute to breaking the leadership. He asserts that although government’s machinations may distort other unions, the UTAG remains unshakable in their decision to continue striking.
“You can do all manner of things to divide and break the front of some labour unions but not UTAG. You can go to hell, we are stil on strike,” he stressed.
The UTAG was one of many unions who had warned government of an industrial action should government not address the country’s illegal mining issues. On October 10, the union declared an indenfinite strike based on government’s inactions to tackle the environmental menace. The decision was reached following a significant support through a nation-wide vote by UTAG members. The vote cast saw 77.95% of votes in favor of the strike.
The Secretary of the association indicated that the strike would be called off only when the government had revoked the LI 2462, which permits mining in forest reserves.
Meanwhile, UTAG’s NEC was given a three-day ultimatum to call off the strike after it has been accused of taking a unilateral decision regarding the matter. This was contained in a letter by a smaller group called ‘the Silent Majority’ within the associaton.
But in response, the NEC released a statement refuting the allegations, expressing that there was a broad consultation of members of the union before the decision was made.
“The assertion that NEC acted unilaterally in declaring the indefinite strike is both unfounded and misleading. The strike was declared following rigorous consultation and deliberation across the various campuses of UTAG. As part of this process, NEC ensured that the will of the members was reflected in our decisions.
“The October 10, 2024, strike date was determined and communicated to the National Labour Commission (NLC) by UTAG before OL’s declaration. Our actions were driven by the urgent need to protect the national interest, as articulated in our September 9, 2024, press statement, which you are very much aware of.”
Source: Dehotpress
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