There was a no-show in lecture rooms on various university campuses across the country as lecturers defied a court order asking them to suspend their strike.

On Tuesday, February 15, an Accra High Court granted an injunction application by the National Labor Commission (NLC) to compel the lecturers to return to the negotiation table.

This is the second time the NLC has secured such an order to force UTAG to suspend its strike over similar demands in only six months.

But just like they did previously, UTAG members have refused to return to the classroom.

Speaking to JoyNews on Wednesday, some students asked the lecturers to ensure their demands are met before resuming duties.

Others expressed disappointment over the lecturers’ entrenched posture and attitude.

“I came to campus but didn’t see any lecture class going on. I was expecting them to follow the court’s order and resume teaching. Per my candid opinion, the lecturers should return to the lecture halls. We came here and there are no lecturers; so, I am just doing my personal studies.”

“For now, I will just be on campus and have my personal studies because if I go home, my parents will bombard me with errands. I really want my lecturers back to class but knowing when they return, they may go back after few weeks, I feel they should get all their issues resolved first before resuming work…we’d be ready for them,” a student said.

Meanwhile, President of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) chapter of the Association, Dr Samuel Bert-Kusi, has said the lecturers are awaiting advice from their lawyers before they call off the strike.

“It’s important that we don’t just presume that these are the specific orders so we need to look at the specific orders that came in and then we carry it from there. I don’t think anybody wants to stretch this matter. I have said in the past that litigation is not the way to go; at the end of the day, whatever we are doing is about conditions of service.

“We were not the first people to even head to court, it’s the NLC that took us to court; so, let’s follow the advice of the legal team and we move it from there,” he said.

UTAG's demands

UTAG wants government to restore their 2012 conditions of service, which pegged the monthly income of entry-level lecturers at $2,084.

The Association has complained that the current arrangement has reduced its members’ basic premiums to $997.84.