The President for the University of Cape Coast (UCC) chapter of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) has rejected claims that the Association breached several procedures by proceeding with its industrial action.

According to Dr. Samuel Bert Boadi-Kusi, UTAG has complied with the necessary measures.

UTAG on Monday embarked on indefinite strike action over the government’s failure to address the worsening conditions of service of lecturers.

In response, the National Labour Commission noted that "UTAG should have complied with Section 159 of Act 651, which requires that the Commission be served notice.”

The Public Relations Officer of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC), Earl Ankrah while speaking on JoyNews also stated that UTAG should have consulted the NLC first.

“At the beginning of negotiations, we signed rules of engagement. Those rules of engagement state that when you have grievances, when things are not going the way in which you want it to go, there are processes you have to follow. You have to go through the Labour Commission, go through arbitration or mediation and certain levels and then you will come to a conclusion, strike is the very last option. UTAG has not exhausted all these processes,” he said.

But interacting with Benjamin Akakpo on the AM Show on Tuesday, Dr Samuel Bert Boadi-Kusi disclosed that the Association has reached out to the National Labour Commission through emails.

"The issue of NLC saying we did not comply, we disagree with them. NLC is here. They are in this country and they know the letters we have written.

We've emailed our letters to them. For them to come and say that we did not follow procedure, we disagree. We disagree that we have breached any procedure."

According to him, UTAG resorted to electronic communication because the Commission had locked their offices and directed its security not to accept any letter.

"They know the issues we have stated. They themselves locked their offices from December 20 to January 10. They instructed their security not to accept any letter," he claimed.

Meanwhile, a meeting has been scheduled between the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and the National Labour Commission (NLC) for Thursday.

The meeting, supposed to have taken place on Wednesday, will discuss the conditions of service demanded by UTAG, the failure of stakeholders to stick to an earlier agreement, and consider the "hearing of the issues in dispute.”