POTAG strike is illegal - NLC

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tijani 11 years ago

what is legal in Ghana,,,,. if the strike is illegal,,what about their concerns,,,,,. NLC don't go there,,,
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF POTAG

what is legal in Ghana,,,,. if the strike is illegal,,what about their concerns,,,,,. NLC don't go there,,,
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF POTAG
OLD SOLDIER 11 years ago

Another stupid buffoon in the NDC.

Another stupid buffoon in the NDC.
Bruce 11 years ago

Potage Strike illegal indeed foolish govt pay them and let them go back to work

Potage Strike illegal indeed foolish govt pay them and let them go back to work
GHANAIAN IN UK 11 years ago

UTAG STRIKE IS ALWAYS LEGAL BUT POTAG's ONE IS ALWAYS ILLEGAL

UTAG STRIKE IS ALWAYS LEGAL BUT POTAG's ONE IS ALWAYS ILLEGAL
KM 11 years ago

As for this toothless NCL every strike is illegal in this country yet you sit down whilst workers are cheated by the government and you don't see it to be wrong. If the NLC cannot fight for workers leave them to fight for the ...
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As for this toothless NCL every strike is illegal in this country yet you sit down whilst workers are cheated by the government and you don't see it to be wrong. If the NLC cannot fight for workers leave them to fight for themselves. Useless NLC.
Li 11 years ago

Is our concern too illegal?Just address our concern and stop this archaic propaganda.

Is our concern too illegal?Just address our concern and stop this archaic propaganda.
C.Y. ANDY-K 11 years ago

Your concern is totally immoral, intellectually and academically bankrupt. It is not the best way to promote research and academic work in Ghana.

Read my article below to find out a better way.

Andy-K

Your concern is totally immoral, intellectually and academically bankrupt. It is not the best way to promote research and academic work in Ghana.

Read my article below to find out a better way.

Andy-K
Li 11 years ago

Give us the best way to do proper research. Please spare us any intellectually and academically bankrupt propositions.

Give us the best way to do proper research. Please spare us any intellectually and academically bankrupt propositions.
BANDIT 11 years ago

I can't seem to find the relevant provision in Act 651.

I can't seem to find the relevant provision in Act 651.
STEVE WILLIAMS 11 years ago

The NATIONAL LABOUR COMMISSION should be completely abolished. They have teeth but cannot bite. USELESS and unnecessary COMMISSION.
the NLC has no enforcement powers on its own and has to go to the HIGH COURT for enforcement ...
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The NATIONAL LABOUR COMMISSION should be completely abolished. They have teeth but cannot bite. USELESS and unnecessary COMMISSION.
the NLC has no enforcement powers on its own and has to go to the HIGH COURT for enforcement.Almost all the applications for enforcement have been refused by the Court.
The NLC is a drain on the national budget and should be scrapped and another institution put in its place and provided with all the powers of a HIGH COURT with ENFORCEMENT powers.
The new ENTITY formed in its please should be made up of RETIRED HIGH COURT AND APPEAL COURT JUDGES.

The Mask 11 years ago

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The next version is set to ...
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Boachsoft Finance 2012 software, developed in East Akyem in the Eastern Region and in Accra/Tema, is helping many families across the globe to balance the family budget and save for the future.

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Kaku 11 years ago

Sack them

Sack them
C.Y. ANDY-K 11 years ago

This strike is not only illegal but ethically, academically and intellectually bankrupt!

The decision to strike over the stopping of the insane so-called book and research allowances while negotiations are ongoing about f ...
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This strike is not only illegal but ethically, academically and intellectually bankrupt!

The decision to strike over the stopping of the insane so-called book and research allowances while negotiations are ongoing about finding sane replacement must be condemned by all right-thinking persons, irrespective of party affiliation.

Andy-K
POTAG 11 years ago

NLC must go to the consensus room with them and stop worsen the fresh wounds. whether illegal or legal, they are on strike. meet them and agree on better terms ok. we are suffering here and we want to complete and go home.

NLC must go to the consensus room with them and stop worsen the fresh wounds. whether illegal or legal, they are on strike. meet them and agree on better terms ok. we are suffering here and we want to complete and go home.
C.Y. ANDY-K 11 years ago

They cannot hold the nation to ransom! The govt has the right to decide what's appropriate policy to follow in this case too. What was agreed with the Rawlings regime was totally bankrupt and just a blackmail money the govt h ...
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They cannot hold the nation to ransom! The govt has the right to decide what's appropriate policy to follow in this case too. What was agreed with the Rawlings regime was totally bankrupt and just a blackmail money the govt has been paying.

I wrote this piece below in the wake of the start of the brouhaha. In addition to that, the parties must co-operate to revamp and restructure the National Archives and Statistical Service to make them as bastions of national data collection and storage which researchers can draw upon easily. I might write a full article on that.

Andy-K

THE BOOK AND RESEARCH ALLOWANCES BROUHAHA

The University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and the Polytechnic Teachers Association of Ghana (POTAG) are currently embroiled in a dispute with government over the cancellation of book and research allowances to lecturers in the tertiary institutions of Ghana. Threatened strike actions have just been suspended pending the outcome of negotiations between the parties to the dispute. I urge government not to buckle to these threats and dastardly blackmail.

Some of us were horrified when we read of the institution of these book and research allowances in the tertiary institutions in the mid-1990s by the NDC Rawlings regime. I wrote against it on the Okyeame forum and received a lot of support from forumers, many of them lecturers in tertiary institutions in the West. A couple of professors from the universities in Ghana on sabbaticals in the US sent me private mails agreeing with me and disagreeing with the new order that was just announced. I was myself then, besides a graduate student and teaching assistant in the University of Bergen, a research assistant at Christian Michelsen Institute (CMI), the largest development and human rights research institute in Scandinavia. A rich country like Norway would not dream of such insane dole outs of public money to lecturers.

I would like to reiterate my objection to what is a gross aberration in the development process designed to just cushion the take home pay of lecturers rather than boost any serious book acquisition, teaching and research efforts, and therefore back the cancellation of the gross anomaly. I would also like to suggest some rational measures to replace the existing wasteful practice, a cynical joke which tax payers must not be burdened with any longer, having just recently been spared some “by force” road toll in Legon.

Those who support the present egregious practice are free to supply to us its evaluation, giving us the number of publications - peer reviewed or not - which each of the recipients have authored over the years and how well they have improved their teaching practices.

It is a fact that our tertiary institutions lack publications to support any meaningful research and teaching, as a visit to any of their main libraries, such as Balme Library in Legon, will show. But the solution is not a privatisation of measures to acquire such publications. The first step in resolving the problem is stocking their libraries, both main and departmental ones, with the latest publications: newspapers, magazines, journals, books, audio visuals, micro films, data bases, etc. Yes, stocking the libraries shall be the main focus.

In conjunction with the above, the book shops on the campuses must be regularly stocked with same publications. In view of this, the university publishing presses must be revamped to secure the rights to publish certain books locally, instead of the present practice of even publishing books for primary schools abroad! It is simply gross!

As it would not be financially and logistically feasible to buy and stock all publications, there must be a selection process to acquire relevant ones only. There are some standard, mainstream publications – books, journals, magazines and newspapers - which it’d be a matter of course to acquire. Books that form part of the curricula, which curricula must be reviewed regularly to include new publications, would be acquired routinely. New books, however, require some element of discretion and lecturers within departments may collectively deliberate upon which to acquire for their institutes, and eventually add to the reading list.

Publishers regularly send catalogues of upcoming publications to educational and research institutions and libraries. Steps must be taken to get such catalogues from both local and foreign publishers. As the practice was in CMI - and I believe still is - the catalogues are passed round from the library to the researchers upstairs to mark any of the publications they want to be acquired for the library, or their own use. If you want a personal copy to keep, one is acquired for you and you pay for it from your own pocket, benefiting from the hefty subsidy the publishers give to the library. If you do not want a copy, you use the one acquired for the library and return it after using it. I availed myself of the opportunity to acquire a couple of books for myself at knocked down prices, one of them not even related directly to my studies, Africa Ark by Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher, which provided me with great insight about the peoples of the Horn of Africa, their past and the development challenges we Africans face.

RESEARCH FUNDS

There is need for a three-tiered source of publicly funded funds to lecturers and researchers who want to carry out research requiring funding – the departmental, the university/polytechnic level and the national level.

Funds must be provided to each department to fund some minimum level of research in their fields of specialisation, which fund lecturers shall compete for, or just be granted some funding from for minor expenses linked to their field works, for example. That way, they can build up their research capabilities and capacities to world class levels, capable of attracting independently/privately funded researches and consultancies. We can expect those in the physical and engineering sciences to come out with innovative findings and discoveries which can be commercialised.

There must be a bigger research fund at the university/polytechnic level available to all departments and institutes. Each year, a certain number of researches must be funded on specific areas of interest that contribute to knowledge and the development of Ghana and Africa in general. Lecturers apply to such a fund in competition with each other by presenting research proposals and budget. Not even in the recognised Ivy League institutions of the West are lecturers undertaking research from one year to another necessitating funding them. After all, there are specialised research institutes with full time researchers undertaking research into vital issues for their states. What about Ghana?

The government must maintain a national fund for research into areas of concern to the government and the public. In view of this, the government shall specify the area it wants to be researched and invites researchers to present research proposals and budget to carry them out. A panel of scholars running the fund shall determine the winner/s. This suggestion is nothing novel but simply what pertains in the civilised nations. The Federal Government of the USA is thus the largest source of research funding in the US.

In spite of the fact that Ken Kuranchie came out from prison, realised that Ghanaians are not civilised and blurted it out just like that, it does not mean that we cannot begin to emulate some of the civilised ways of the people acclaimed to be civilised, if we intend to get out of the ditch into which some have run the state of Ghana since the demise of Kwame Nkrumah. Or, should I say, since the grandfathers and great grand uncles of some of us handed over the affairs of the Gold Coast to the wannabe leaders of the new nation tagged Ghana?

Besides these suggestions, the tertiary institutions must be proactive in seeking private individuals and corporate bodies to set up foundations and legacies to support research within respective departments.

Andy C. Y. Kwawukume
cyandyk@ymail.com
Kwaku Ababio 11 years ago

You have made your points clear and I appreciate your perspectives on the issue, but I do not think you have understood the lecturers clearly.

What they are asking for is not a salary top-up. They are asking for basic t ...
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You have made your points clear and I appreciate your perspectives on the issue, but I do not think you have understood the lecturers clearly.

What they are asking for is not a salary top-up. They are asking for basic tools that will enable them do their work effectively which is part of their condition of service. Their assessment and progression depends on the availability (or otherwise) of these tools. Have we asked ourselves how the lectures prepare to teach? How they get themselves abreast with current issues in their various fields, in this current age where the frontiers of knowledge keep expanding by the day? Have we also asked ourselves the one who determines the content of the subject that a lecturer teaches and how that is made relevant to current needs? Do we want them to continue teaching the stuffs of 1960s to the 1980s in this millennium? Who goes to war at his or her own expense? Is their engagement under contract of service or contract for service? The ideal situation is making these tools available to the various departments of the universities / polytechnics so the lectures can have access to. But who determines what should be used for teaching and learning at any point in time? What may be relevant now may not be relevant another time.

The sad situation is that the main and departmental libraries are in sorry state. The basic tools for teaching and learning not there and unfortunately too some lecturers continue to churn out year after year old stuff in pamphlets for students to buy. How can such institutions and their products compete in the global market place? How can teaching and learning effectively bridge the gap between academia and industry or prepare students adequately for industry when the basic tools are not there?

It is important for us to remind ourselves that it is the duty of the employer to provide the needed tools for the employee to do his or her work. At the time when this issue came up, the government found it more convenient and cheaper to provide allowances to the lecturers to enable them acquire the needed tools for their work. I think this practice still goes on with some category of artisans in the public service where they are provided with some allowance to enable them acquire some basic tools for their work. It might be true that some lecturers might have been using their allowances as salary top-ups and were as such not utilising them for the intended purpose. But the system should be able to check that.

I do not think that substituting this allowance with a centralised research fund solves the problem. They are certainly not the same. Much as it is a laudable idea that a centralised research fund is established for national research purposes, it can not be used to replace the basic tools that the lecturers need to enable them do their work. The national research fund is certainly for finding solutions to national problems and not for teaching and learning purposes. It is also unthinkable for one to apply to another institution for the needed basic working tools to work for another institution.

If the government finds it necessary to replace this allowance, which it has the right to do anyway, the way it is being handled is not the best. The allowance was negotiated for as part of condition of service so if it is to be varied it becomes prudent for it to be done through negotiations. The strong-mindedness and confrontational stand is not necessary.

For me whether the Book and Research Allowance is abolished or not is not the issue, the issue is providing the needed basic tools for effective teaching and learning in this age. The newly established National Research Fund can not be used as a substitute for the provision of basic working tools that are needed and being used on daily basis.
Papa Yaw 11 years ago

No

No
Ghana Ba 11 years ago

Masa pay them and stop that nonsense. Teachers deserve better.

Masa pay them and stop that nonsense. Teachers deserve better.
ayeeeee 11 years ago

let try to b patrotic for once .we re tired of dis strike strik even upon the huge hand money.we re tired.

let try to b patrotic for once .we re tired of dis strike strik even upon the huge hand money.we re tired.
KWAME, BELGIUM 11 years ago

The problems facing the Trade unions in Ghana today is that the General Secretary is now a spokesperson of the NPP. He is making political statements in the name of democracy and freedom of speech. The NLC need to put an end ...
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The problems facing the Trade unions in Ghana today is that the General Secretary is now a spokesperson of the NPP. He is making political statements in the name of democracy and freedom of speech. The NLC need to put an end to that.

'O' LE 11 years ago

I look forward to the day when a Government of Ghana would be bold enough to refuse to pay workers who go on strike for the period they lay down their tools or abstain from work. We cannot build our nation with this constant ...
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I look forward to the day when a Government of Ghana would be bold enough to refuse to pay workers who go on strike for the period they lay down their tools or abstain from work. We cannot build our nation with this constant resort to strikes on least grievances whether genuine or otherwise. Just a week ago, Switzerland voted against the Workers demand for pay rise by a very wide margin and the reason behind the defeat of the rise in pay was that more pay would lead to job cuts. Are our intellectuals in the polytechnics aware of the implications of their demands and strike on the national economy? And they would turn round to say after getting the money that the economy is bad? Let us be realistic in our demands for more money else we coerced governments to meet our demands lest they loose votes but ultimately we, the ordinary, pay for it.
GOD HAVE MERCY 11 years ago

UTAG STRIKE IS ALWAYS LEGAL BUT THAT OF POTAG IS ALWAYS ILLEGAL

UTAG STRIKE IS ALWAYS LEGAL BUT THAT OF POTAG IS ALWAYS ILLEGAL
GHANABA, UK 11 years ago

UTAG STRIKE IS LEGAL BUT POTAG STRIKE IS ALWAYS ILLEGAL

UTAG STRIKE IS LEGAL BUT POTAG STRIKE IS ALWAYS ILLEGAL
OJOE 11 years ago

NLC you are conspire with the government to cheat us you are saying our strike illegal, you NLC, your actions are illegal

NLC you are conspire with the government to cheat us you are saying our strike illegal, you NLC, your actions are illegal
Sam KK 11 years ago

IS IT ENOUGH TO SAY POTAG'S STRIKE IS ILLEGAL? WHEN HAS NLC EVER SAID A STRIKE EMBARKED BY A WORKERS' UNION IN GHANA IS LEGAL? IS THE MERE PRONOUNCEMENT THAT THE STRIKE IS ILLEGAL CAPABLE OF ADDRESSING THE REASON FOR WHICH PO ...
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IS IT ENOUGH TO SAY POTAG'S STRIKE IS ILLEGAL? WHEN HAS NLC EVER SAID A STRIKE EMBARKED BY A WORKERS' UNION IN GHANA IS LEGAL? IS THE MERE PRONOUNCEMENT THAT THE STRIKE IS ILLEGAL CAPABLE OF ADDRESSING THE REASON FOR WHICH POTAG HAS EMBARKED ON THE STRIKE? IF POTAG NOTIFIED THE NLC ABOUT ITS INTENDED STRIKE A MONTH EARLIER BUT THE LATTER FAILED TO RESPOND, DOES THAT MAKE POTAG'S STRIKE ILLEGAL?
Lord Tennison 11 years ago

Do they have to embark on a strike action before their conspicuous problems are solved?
Do members of the Labor Commission lack foresight like John Mahama?

Do they have to embark on a strike action before their conspicuous problems are solved?
Do members of the Labor Commission lack foresight like John Mahama?
Addey Cephas Success 11 years ago

Hmm we the students are begging all the parties involved to have sympathy for we the students to settle everythings for our lecturers to comeback to their works please !!!!!!!

Hmm we the students are begging all the parties involved to have sympathy for we the students to settle everythings for our lecturers to comeback to their works please !!!!!!!
Owoahene 11 years ago

We are tired n sick of de NLC. y is it dat dey always take us for granted?.
Ve u forgoton dat dis wil result negative impact of out academics. Instead of u to calm deir nerves down u ar sayin is illegal.

We are tired n sick of de NLC. y is it dat dey always take us for granted?.
Ve u forgoton dat dis wil result negative impact of out academics. Instead of u to calm deir nerves down u ar sayin is illegal.
sam 11 years ago

NDC forget of coming to power again

NDC forget of coming to power again

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POTAG strike is illegal - NLC

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