The Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) says its demand for improved remuneration is not based on a comparison with university lecturers but on an existing job evaluation and arbitration framework.

National President Rev. Kwaku Karikari Amoah said the union’s dispute with the government should not be characterised as a contest between administrators and academics.

“We have not and we are not comparing ourselves with anybody within the university landscape,” he said on theAsaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday (11 August).

He said a job evaluation conducted during the transition to the Single Spine Salary Structure had initially rated administrative and professional staff at 120 percent, compared with about 114 percent for other categories.

According to him, the matter subsequently went through the National Labour Commission and arbitration, resulting in an agreement for GAUA members to receive 114 percent of basic salary.

Rev. Amoah said the union’s current concern was how the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission handled negotiations over its remuneration package.

He disputed the suggestion that GAUA had negotiated for a new market premium, saying the union had initially been told that negotiations would focus on two items on its payslip.

He said the union later received communication indicating that the negotiated arrangement had been replaced or described as a new market premium.

“That is not the basis for which we negotiated,” he said.

Rev. Amoah also rejected arguments that administrators and lecturers should be assessed using identical qualifications and responsibilities.

He said senior administrators such as registrars and directors of finance typically had lengthy professional experience and occupied senior management positions within universities.

He nevertheless stressed that GAUA was not demanding identical treatment with academic staff.

“Our focus is the new salary structure that Fair Wages has developed,” he said.

He called for a fresh job evaluation to determine appropriate remuneration for administrative and professional staff, arguing that market premiums should be based on objective assessments of jobs, skills and professional scarcity.

GAUA has embarked on industrial action over the dispute, with the union saying it wants the government to address outstanding remuneration and related concerns.