The Chief Executive Officer of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), Dr George Smith-Graham, says he is surprised the Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) is still on strike after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Commission to allow further discussions on its concerns over salary disparities.

Speaking on the JoyNews AM Show on Monday, October 12, he said salary negotiations with GAUA had been concluded, and the association had been paid, but the Commission had agreed to examine fresh proposals to address its concerns.

Dr Smith-Graham explained that the government had prioritised efforts to address disparities in the Single Spine Salary Structure, with the FWSC and the Ministry of Finance working to correct the inequalities across public sector institutions.

The Commission, he said, had concluded negotiations with 58 institutions, including GAUA, as part of the broader effort.

“We have concluded negotiations with 58 institutions, including GAUA. We have signed an agreement with GAUA, concluded the negotiations with GAUA, and they have been paid,” he said.

Dr Smith-Graham attributed GAUA's decision to embark on strike to concerns that the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) had secured a more favourable deal in its negotiations with the government.

He said GAUA became dissatisfied after learning that UTAG had also negotiated with the government and believed the teachers' association had received better terms.

“Immediately they noticed that UTAG had also come for their negotiations, then they said UTAG got more than them; and because UTAG got more than them, they declared a strike,” he said.

The FWSC CEO disclosed that GAUA representatives had visited his office about a week earlier, where both parties signed an MoU to allow further discussions on the association's concerns.

“When GAUA raised the issue, GAUA came to my office about a week ago. They signed a Memorandum of Understanding with me,” he said.

“I said, give me some proposals on how we can resolve these inequities. We are also interested in resolving the inequities. We will study your proposal.”

Dr Smith-Graham stressed that the agreement to consider further proposals did not mean the earlier negotiations with GAUA remained outstanding.

Dr Smith-Graham said he had expected GAUA to call off its strike following the understanding reached at the meeting, which was intended to give the Commission time to examine the association's proposals.

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He said he was therefore surprised to learn on Friday that the industrial action was still ongoing.

“They signed that we are going to call off the strike, that they are giving us the time, only for me to hear on Friday that 'we are still on strike',” he lamented. “That really surprised me, because they came to sign an MoU with me.”

Dr Smith-Graham reiterated that the Commission would examine GAUA's proposals and respond by the end of October, while maintaining that the earlier negotiations had been concluded and the agreed payments made.