I have pondered this issue for a while. It has affected many people I know and has affected my very self for two of my siblings are currently in the University. I have come to the conclusion that we need to revise our labour laws. Government must also be bold to call the bluff of citizens who choose blackmail over common sense. I believe that the right to go on strike remains an incontrovertible right of every worker. Why? If you have genuine grievances and established authority does not engage you and you follow due process as spelt out in our Labour laws, you have the right to strike. And legitimately so. However, looking at the almost 3 month old POTAG strike and the recently announced UTAG strike, I dare say that the irresponsibility of those entrusted with shaping the future of our Nation is stark. I mean how can you go on strike over an allowance and leave students to their fate and still collect your salaries? It is the most unconscionable thing to do. Especially when the allowance is said to be for research. Research! In Ghana tertiary institutions? Adonbilivit! When their colleagues in other jurisdictions are carrying out research into stem cells, reconstructive surgery, EBOLA vaccines and greener ways of production, our lecturers claim they are researching to teach. To do their lesson notes. Good graces! I have by Gods grace and the magnanimity of the Ghanaian taxpayer sat in a Ghanaian university. The lecture material I used was used 5 years before me and has vastly remained the same 9 good years after I graduated. SO what research has been conducted. We referred to these materials as Grandfather. Government has not said it is uninterested in research. It has rather said the tax payer deserves a better use of their taxes. It is setting up a National Research Fund from which all lecturers who seek to do research can apply and source funding. What is wrong with this arrangement? How can any genuine researcher fault this? This actually opens up an avenue for even greater financial support for research. So what is their beef? I do not buy the argument that lecturers need to be paid an allowance to research to teach in classrooms. No! What then is their salary for? I thought salaries were for the job you do? So what is the job of a lecturer apart from teaching? Then an Engineer would also demand for research allowance into modern civil construction techniques before agreeing to work on a road project he is paid for. Or a Surgeon before He operates on a defective heart. I believe the argument is flawed. How can the poor Polytechnic student suffer because of the untenable position of their lecturers and the same lecturers get paid by the parents of the students who are made to suffer? This is double jeopardy and we must put a stop to it. If labour chooses to embark on a strike without recourse to the laid down procedure, the taxpayer who suffers it MUST NOT pay the errant workers. Enough of the sabotage and blackmail.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 11:13:29 +0000
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