N A T I O N A L S E C R E T A R I A T S

28TH SEPTEMBER 2022

Distribution:
All UTAG Branches
All GAUA Branches
All SSA-UoG Branches
All TEWU-GH Branches
All Media Houses

BLATANT UNILATERAL VARIATION OF AGREED CONDITIONS OF SERVICE IN THE

FACE OF HOSTILE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS

Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press.

The Leadership of the four (4) Labour Unions in the Public Universities in Ghana,
namely, the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), Ghana
Association of University Administrators (GAUA), Tertiary Education Workers
Union of Ghana (TEWU-GH), and the Senior Staff Association of Universities of
Ghana (SSA-UoG), is grateful to you for coming to cover this all-important Press
Conference.

This press conference is about the collective interest of four (4) labour unions
whose working conditions have been overly varied at their blindside with the
intention of selective application of the same Conditions unbeknown to them
by the Employer and therefore has necessitated this meeting.

For the avoidance of doubt, let me walk you through certain recent
developments that has culminated in this state of affair and therefore, has
negatively affected our members.

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Ladies and gentlemen, the Labour Unions took notice of a letter from the
Ministry of Finance (MoF) on the revision of fuel allowance payable to eligible
staff in public and technical universities with reference number
BD/CMU/22/08/SAL. 1, and dated 5 th August 2022 and signed by the Deputy
Minister of Finance, Hon. Abena Osei-Asare (MP) on behalf of the Minister of
Finance, which was duly copied to the Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary
Education Commission (GTEC).

We also refer to another letter from the Ministry of Finance on the subject
“ALLOWANCES PAYABLE ON THE PAYROLL OF PUBLIC UNIVERISITIES” with
reference number BD/CMU/22/03/SAL.1, dated 16 th March 2022 and again
signed by the Deputy Minister of Finance, Hon. Abena Osei-Asare (MP) on
behalf of the Minister of Finance, which was addressed to the Director-General
of GTEC.

Lastly, reference is made to previous letters from UTAG to the Minister of

Finance and the Executive Secretary, National Labour Commission (NLC) with
reference numbers UTAG/NAT/2022/EM-002 and UTAG/NAT/2022/EM-007,
dated 11th April 2022 and 15th June 2022, respectively, both of which were
copied to GTEC. In the said letters, UTAG sought clarification on the basis for
the unilateral variation in the Conditions of Service of the University Teachers,
and by extension, all workers of the Public Universities, without the laid down
procedures for negotiations. Unfortunately, UTAG did not receive a response
from the Minister of Finance and again response in respect of NLC’s directive,
where the NLC gave the Minister of Finance seven (7) working days to respond
was to no avail.

In UTAG’s previous letters, UTAG stated unequivocally that per the signed
Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between the Employer and UTAG on 16th
June 2021, the Employer agreed to review Fuel Allowance bi-annually with the
approved rates and the first date review should have occurred in December
2021 but did not happen in spite of the reminders sent to the Employer.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, contrary to the MoA under reference, the Minister of
Finance, per its own letter with reference number BD/CMU/22/03/SAL.1 dated
16th March 2022, again, directed that Fuel Allowance and other allowances
that depended on ex-pump price for fuel, which was, hitherto, pegged to
number of gallons has now been converted and determined in absolute rates
without recourse to any of the Labour Unions in the Public Universities.

Thus, we totally rejected this absolute rate as the procedure for taking such a
decision was not followed and, the status quo should remain until agreed at a
negotiation. Again, the Employer ignored the concerns of the Unions.

Ladies and Gentlemen, after a long delay in respect of the bi-annual review,
the Minister of Finance, in a letter dated 5th August 2022, gave approval for the
adjustment of ex-pump price of fuel and, consequently, the unit cost pegged
at GH¢10.99 per litre with effect from 1st July 2022 for all eligible staff after more
than a year of the signing of the MoA.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, one would have thought that having the
agreement followed through at long last on the part of the Employer, the
sleeping dogs would have remained in their sleep but nevertheless it has come
to our knowledge that, henceforth, there is going to be disparities in the
implementation of this adjusted ex-pump rate, which is contrary to the existing
practice, notably for Vehicle Maintenance and Off-Campus Allowances. The
disparities here being that it is going to be applicable only to duty bearers of
our universities. This action is not only unacceptable but creates a class system,
like the famous George Owel’s Animal Farm and discounting that the other
members of staff and the Duty bearer both go to the same marketplace.

We wish to put on record that the Vehicle Maintenance and Off-Campus

Allowances, payable to eligible staff in Public Universities in Ghana, are paid
on a base rate of GH¢4.99 per litre until June 2021 when it was adjusted to
GH¢6.05 per litre. So, what has changed for this blatant disregard for the
agreed laid down procedures.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, the intended reversal of the recent upward
adjustments from GH¢10.99 to GH¢6.05 is just not reflective of the economic
conditions at the pump and therefore unthinkable for the Employer even to
conceive such an idea to do so. UTAG and her sister Unions would wish to
entreat the Employer to thread carefully so as not to mar the already
jeopardised tertiary education front, as the Labour Unions would not
countenance such fragrant disregard of agreed modalities of Conditions of
Service.

We wish to state that the Ministry of Finance, through GTEC, should ensure that
the conditions subsequent to the support of staff welfare in extricating them
from economic hostilities will not disadvantage them relative to the Conditions
of Service of members of Labour Unions in Public Universities. We are by this
Press Conference registering our displeasure on the directive and requesting
that under no circumstance should Vice-Chancellors, through their Finance
Directors, implement such by applying the Gh¢10.99 ex-pump approved rate
ONLY to Fuel Allowance without considering Vehicle Maintenance and Off-
Campus Allowances. Failure to address these essential concerns will result in
the possible total withdrawal of our services across all Public Universities in
Ghana.

Ladies and Gentlemen, off late it appears to us that GTEC is behaving like a
“headmaster” with postering that does not augur well in the public universities’
front and is being reminded to focus on its core mandate and leave Fair Wages
and Salaries Commission to exercise that oversight responsibility of salary and
conditions of service administration in latter’s ambit.

Ladies and gentlemen, following the suspension of the UTAG Strike action in
March 2022, the NEC of UTAG promised to monitor and police the full
implementation of all agreements with the Employer, and to work with clear
timelines and roadmaps to ensure that all promises and agreements are
respected. However, it is sad to note that there are still challenges with the
implementation of the Online Teaching Support Allowance (OTSA), and
Nonpayroll Allowances are still outstanding. This situation has made the

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University Teacher worse off in the face of the present precarious economic
situation we find ourselves in and yet the Employer is bent to derailing the little
gains achieved.

The concerned Labour Unions, namely, UTAG, GAUA, SSA-UoG, and TEWU-GH,
are by this presser asking the Employer what has been done to our CoS,
especially so when 2023 is just 3 months away. What has happened to the
agreement at the National Labour Conference in Kwahu where there was an
agreement for the Employer to implement the Market Premium and/or review
the Single Spine Salary Structure in 2023, to help address concerns of poor
Conditions of Services of the Public Sector Workers in full?

Again, we have also observed that the implementation of the GTEC document
on Harmonised Allowances has made several University Administrators and
Professional worse off, which is against the labour laws. This requires urgent
attention for redress.

There is a 2019 document, which talks about implementation of Category 2 &

3 Allowances in public institutions. The Labour Unions in the Public Universities
vehemently rejected some of the directives, including that on Overtime
Allowance. Since then, the Public Universities have had no problem on the
Overtime Allowance until recently the Audit Service wrote to the University
Managements to stop paying Overtime Allowance to eligible Staff. This is
another anomaly that requires urgent redress.

Lastly, the payment of the Book and Research Allowances (BRA) for this year
has delayed. This continued delay is also causing unnecessary apprehension
on the various campuses. The Employer should remember that we are in a new
academic year, for which reason the continuous delay in the payment is
unacceptable.

Per the agreement that led to the suspension of the UTAG industrial action, the
2021/2022 BRA were slated to be paid at the end of August 2022. Unfortunately,
to date, they have not been paid. The constant follow-ups have only yielded

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evasive excuses and typical of the reactionary and less proactive leadership
style, all the relevant ministries and their heads, including Finance, National
Security, Education, and Employment, and the National Labour Commission
are looking on, and waiting for us to explode before they act.

We know the language that easily sinks in their psyche, and we will speak it in
one (1) week if they fail to heed to their own agreement with us.

The concerned Labour Unions are admonishing all the rank and file of their
membership to remain calm and steadfast, that it will resist any attempt by the
Employer to vary the terms of their agreed Conditions of Service without due
process. The Unions also take this opportunity to advice the Employer to be
circumspect as we do not take delight in disrupting the academic calendar,
nevertheless, when compelled to do so, we will not hesitate. Therefore, the
Employer should immediately rescind its intension to vary our conditions of
service, else, teaching, and related activities on all the campuses will be
withdrawn with effect from Wednesday, 5th October 2022.

Thank you very much.

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