President of the University of Ghana chapter of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UG-UTAG) , Prof. Ransford Gyampo, says it will proceed with a planned strike action, regardless of Oragnised Labour choosing to back out of its planned nationwide strike against the illegal mining (galamsey) crisis.
The strike action, which was planned for Thursday, October 10, 2024, is in raise concerns about the galamsey crisis and what the association perceives as the government’s insufficient action to address the menace.
According to Organised Labour, the government has shown efforts towards fighting the menace, leading to their decision to suspend the strike. However, UG-UTAG remains unconvinced.
“We even wanted to be allowed to say that if this is the route to go then let’s subject the government to a strict deadline. They said they will not let us talk. In the meeting, I made my first point to others; a few people spoke and if you are speaking the chairman gets up and says he doesn’t want you to talk. We didn’t finish with the meeting before we realised they had called the media in.”
“So, the meeting did not end, and they got up to read the statement that had been prepared already for you…We are going to meet this evening. We had voted already. The 16 public universities had voted unanimously, overwhelmingly to say that they want to go on industrial action, and we don’t care about what ‘disorganised labour’ wants to do.
“We will be the conscience of Ghana. We will defend Ghanaians, and we will ensure that we defeat this fight, we will defeat this existential threat that confronts all of us. If Organised Labour will not want to do it, we will want to do it,” he stated.
Prof. Gyampo disclosed that UG-UTAG was not allowed to voice their concerns during the decision-making process by Organised Labour.
“We don’t care about what ‘Disorganized Labour’ wants to do! We will be the conscience of Ghana!” A visibly displeased Prof. Gyampo reacted after Organized Labour suspended its strike against illegal mining (galamsey).#StopGalamseyNow #IStandAgainstGalamsey #CitiNewsroom pic.twitter.com/Cezz3B7Nrf
— CITI FM 97.3 (@Citi973) October 9, 2024
