The Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) has suspended its nationwide strike, effective Friday, October 16.

Members are therefore to report to work from Monday, October 19. The association says the decision was taken after a final engagement with the Ministry of Education, with a firm assurance to address all their concerns.

National President of GAUA, Rev. Kwaku Karikari Amoah, announced the suspension after a meeting of the association’s National Executive Committee (NEC), saying members had agreed to return to work while negotiations continued on the outstanding issues.

“After we had done a thorough evaluation, we came to the consensus that about 80% of our grievances have been met,” Rev. Amoah said.

He added that the remaining concerns would continue to be discussed with relevant government stakeholders.

“On that basis, we agreed unanimously that we suspend the strike action so that our members will go back to the offices on Monday to work,” he said.

Rev. Amoah said the association had raised several concerns before embarking on the strike, including market premium, what it described as wrongful placement on the Single Spine Salary Structure, a negotiated 40 per cent allowance for professionals in technical and public universities, the extension of the retirement rule beyond the fifth year, and a one-off allowance payment.

He said the NEC reviewed each of these issues before deciding to suspend the industrial action.

The GAUA President acknowledged the role played by the Education Minister in facilitating discussions aimed at resolving the concerns.

“As the Minister just said, we brought our grievances to him for redress, and he has so far helped us and facilitated the process for some of these grievances to be addressed,” he said.

Although the association considers most of its concerns to have been addressed, Rev. Amoah said engagements with government officials would continue until the outstanding matters were resolved.

The suspension therefore allows members to resume their duties while discussions on the remaining grievances continue.

Rev. Amoah said the NEC’s decision was unanimous and reflected the association’s assessment of the progress made through negotiations.

He explained that the NEC was GAUA’s second-highest decision-making body after Congress and had the authority to take the decision on behalf of the association.

He said the return to work would help restore normal administrative operations and support efforts to maintain calm across public university campuses.

“GAUA has suspended its strike action, and we are going back to the offices to complement the efforts of our colleagues on campus to ensure that there is peace and tranquillity on our university campuses,” he said.