President of the Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA), Reverend Amoah Karikari, says it will call off its strike only after receiving a formal letter from the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) on its market premium demand.
He said the association agreed to suspend the industrial action on the condition that the commission provides the required communication on the outstanding issue.
His comments follow a directive from the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) ordering all public universities to reopen by Friday and resume academic work by Monday at the latest.
Speaking on Joy fm’s Newsnight, Reverend Karikari said GAUA had no objection to GTEC directing universities under its regulatory authority to resume operations but maintained that the directive would not automatically end the strike.
“GTEC is our regulator and they can go ahead to direct universities that they regulate to resume work. But we are on strike. So if the Deputy Director-General of GTEC, who issued the reopening directive under the instruction of the Education Minister, who was present at the meetig was listening well and was attentive at the meeting, we agreed that we call off the strike based on a condition precedent: that we receive a letter from Fair Wages on our market premium issue,” he said.
Reverend Karikari also criticised the tone of GTEC’s letter, describing its language as unprofessional and excessive in its approach to university management.
He argued that public universities are governed by their respective councils and that GTEC should not act as though it has direct control over vice-chancellors and university councils.
“GTEC cannot and should not behave as if it is a headmaster remote controlling vice chancellors and university council,” he said.
The GAUA president, however, clarified that the association did not necessarily feel insulted by the letter but objected to what he considered overreaching language.
GAUA began its nationwide strike in August over salary disparities and conditions of service. One major concern is the market premium, which the association says has fallen behind that of teaching staff. The strike has disrupted administrative operations in public universities, with GAUA maintaining that progress on its market premium demand is necessary before it can suspend the industrial action.