Some UTAG members urge union leadership to end anti-Galamsey strike

• Some members of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) have urged the union’s national executives to end the ongoing strike
• According to them, the government has already started addressing galamsey and therefore continuing with the strike was unjustifiable
• The group also urged UTAG to create a monitoring team to monitor the government’s progress in the fight against Galamsey.

Some members of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) have issued a three-day ultimatum to the national executives of the association to end the strike immediately.

The members, who call themselves the “Silent Majority”, said the ongoing anti-galamsey strike has no justification.

They highlighted that the Organized Labor Party, which had initially threatened to initiate industrial action to force the government to face the Galamsey threat, had canceled the action after the government assured them of measures to face the threat.

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At a press conference on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, the UTAG group stated that in light of recent measures taken by the government, including the deployment of military officers to illegal mining sites, the ongoing strike has become unsustainable.

On behalf of the group, Professor Isaac Boadi stated that UTAG executives needed to reassess the situation and employ a more strategic and considered approach to their future engagements with government.

They also urged executives to create a team solely responsible for monitoring the government’s implementation of its roadmap to confront the Galamsey threat.

UTAG distances itself from organized labor

Professor Eric Abavare also said the Organized Labor Party’s decision to suspend the national strike was taken unilaterally by the union leadership.

President of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology chapter of UTAG told Citi FM that the suspension of the strike did not reflect the views of associations affiliated with the union.

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He said the leadership of the Organized Labor Party did not consult or engage with them on the matter and only read an already prepared speech at a meeting held on Wednesday, October 9, 2024.

He said the situation was what informed UTAG’s decision to dissociate itself from Organized Labor and declare its own indefinite strike to demand immediate government action on the threat of illegal mining.

He said UTAG still stands by its initial demands, urging the government to declare a total ban on all small-scale mining activities in the country and a state of emergency in mining communities.

TUTAG joins the anti-galamsey strike

YEN.com.gh also reported that the Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG) had announced plans to also strike to demand government action against illegal mining.

TUTAG expressed disappointment that the Organized Labor Party had suspended its strike planned for 10 October and demanded the repeal of the law allowing mining in forest reserves.

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TUTAG joins UTAG in anti-galamsey strike, says organized labor wasted opportunities

Reviewed by Bruce Douglas, Senior Editor at YEN.com.gh

Source: YEN.com.gh