University Senior staff take on FWSC boss over threat to freeze their salaries
The Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana, wants President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to take action against the Chief Executive Officer of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), Bernard Arthur for threatening to place an embargo on their salaries.
President of the Association, Isaac Donkor said the striking members will continue to be out of work until the government listens to their complaints and act accordingly.
According to him, the demand for a cost of living allowance is just one leg of their concerns, and their earlier meeting with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission ended in a stalemate.
“The last time we had a meeting with the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, the CEO, Ing. Ben Arthur threatened to freeze our salaries. We are daring him to do that, and we are asking the government to take action against him because if he does that, there is going to be a series of strikes in Ghana. We want the government to call him to order because he can’t intimidate us.”
The group said its members will still be on strike despite government’s agreement for the payment of Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) because some other outstanding labour issues remain unresolved.
It cited the non-payment of tier 2 pension arrears and contractual agreements among the reasons why their industrial action is still in full force.
This comes on the back of the suspension of the strike by labour unions following plans by government to pay the allowance at a rate of 15 percent.
“Our strike is still in force, so we have asked all our members to stay at home because COLA was one leg of our demands. The rest are still pending – the government is yet to meet us on the remaining demands, so we are still at home”, Isaac Donkor added.
For example, the Secretary of the KNUST chapter of the Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana, Kwadwo Bediako-Baryeh, noted that tier 2 interests accrued over the years and the desire for allowances to be normalised were major concerns.
Citi News’ checks show that members of the Senior Staff Association of Universities of Ghana at the Akenten-Appiah Menkah University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED) are also embarking on industrial action over the same demands.
During Citi News’ visit to the KNUST Basic school, for instance, some members of the association were still at post, while others were strictly complying with their leadership’s directive to embark on the strike.
