TheGhana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) says government has reneged on an agreement reached over an allowance for its members, prompting the association to embark on an industrial action.

GAUA National President, Rev. Kwaku Karikari Amoah, said the association agreed with government in April to receive an additional adjustment as a new line item on members’ payslips, with the arrangement expected to take effect from April 1.

He said the association was later informed by the Ministry of Finance that the agreed adjustment had instead been used to replace members’ market premium.

“We negotiated with that in that state. That aside, the effective date had been changed from 1st April to 1st July without consulting us,” Rev. Amoah said on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Friday (17 August).

According to him, GAUA subsequently wrote to the National Labour Commission and the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission on July 16 to draw attention to what it described as anomalies in the implementation of the agreement.

He said the association had received no acknowledgement of the letters nearly a month later.

Rev. Amoah said GAUA is also challenging what he described as the lack of transparency in the determination of market premiums for university administrators.

“Market premium is not determined on the desk. There is a government white paper on how to determine market premium,” he said.

He argued that GAUA had previously undergone a job evaluation process and that the association was prepared to engage government if a new evaluation had resulted in adjustments to market premiums.

“We want to know the qualities. So that we also go to enjoy the new market premium structure that they have introduced,” he said.

The GAUA president said the current dispute extends beyond the allowance issue, with several other concerns allegedly remaining unresolved for between four and five years.

These include the structure of senior administrative positions, retirement arrangements and what the association describes as discriminatory treatment compared with teaching staff in public universities.

Rev. Amoah said some senior administrators can reach the highest available rank relatively early in their careers and remain there until retirement, affecting their prospects for further salary progression and pension benefits.

He also questioned why non-teaching senior members could not retire at the end of an academic year, as teaching staff do, rather than immediately upon reaching the mandatory retirement age.

Rev. Amoah said the association had been invited by the Education Minister for discussions and expected a meeting within the week.

He said GAUA wanted government to respect existing equivalences within the university system and provide clarity on the market-premium arrangements.

“Our immediate need are two. One, we need government to tell JTEC, Fair Wages and [the Vice-Chancellors Ghana] to respect the established equivalences,” he said.

“Number two, this is telling us that they have done some market job evaluation and have increased some people’s market premium. We want to know the qualities.”

He rejected the idea that a fresh “roadmap” would be sufficient to resolve the dispute, saying previous roadmaps had not produced tangible results.

“We want something visible,” he said.

GAUA’s strike has already affected academic activities at some public universities, including examinations, as the association presses government to address its outstanding demands.