TUTAG declares nationwide sit-down strike

The Technical University Teachers’ Association of Ghana has declared a nationwide sit-down strike following the failure of government to migrate them onto the conditions of service enjoyed by their counterparts in traditional public universities

According to the Association, in a letter dated July 26th, 2018 and copied to relevant authorities of state such as the Ministry of Education(MoE) and the National Council for Tertiary Education(NCTE) to expedite action along with the fair wages and salaries commission in relation to the situation has not yielded any results.

The Takoradi branch chairman of the association Peter Awini-Seidu told a news conference that after waiting for a month without any official response to their letter, further communication was followed, till the association finally received a correspondence through the National Council for Tertiary Education.

According to Mr Awini-Seidu, the NCTE said it has not migrated the association unto the conditions of service of public universities because of enactment of statutes and appointment of substantive officers with what the NTCE refers to as key positions, adoption of approved scheme of service and lastly conduct of a comprehensive staff audit.

The association says the failure of the National Labour Commission to hear them on the impasse between them and the relevant stakeholders has left with them with no option than to embark on an indefinite sit-down strike, effective Wednesday, September 13, 2018.

The purpose of the conversion of polytechnics into technical universities was to bridge the gap between academia and industry.

In 2016, a technical committee on the conversion of polytechnics to technical universities announced its decision to convert all polytechnics into technical universities and went ahead to conclude same.