Labour Expert, Austin Gamey has urged the government to engage the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) immediately on their demands to resolve the current impasse.

The Association among other things wants the government to reconsider the payment of its annual research allowance because it is critical to their research output, promotion and ultimately, national development.

UTAG has therefore ceased all teaching and related activities until further notice.

Speaking on the AM Show on JoyNews on Monday, Austin Gamey said the government must open up to the university teachers on what it can afford from their demands.

He admonished the government to iron out issues to avert a halt in academic activities.

“We need to be very honest and open and speak about it in a manner that will not run our educational system on the ground…the employer has a responsibility to engage them now, I’m not talking about tomorrow, today so that they can understand and appreciate the challenges they have but on condition that they will not be vilified in the public domain the way we have been doing it,” he stated.

He explained that the government’s fears of other associations also demanding some improvement in their conditions of service, is the reason UTAG’s demands have not been met.

“The fear is this, they are demanding certain things. They want it negotiated, they want it paid. The fear of the employer sometimes is that, if we give it to them what about their comparatives in the same system. Will they come after them, the employer? Yes, they will come…All these things should be made clear and put on the negotiation table…we really need to be very open in this case and call a meeting urgently of not just the university lecturers after their engagement…Let’s deal with the thing holistically and fix the situation,” he added.

The Colleges of Education Teachers Association of Ghana (CETAG), the Teachers and Educational Workers Union (TEWU) and the Certified Registered Anesthetists (CRAs) recently embarked on a strike action to demand better conditions of service from the government.

It took the intervention of the Employment and Labour Relations Ministry for TEWU to suspend their strike while the government is yet to resolve the demands of CETAG and CRA.