University administrators declare nationwide strike over salary disparities
The decision was announced at the Association’s 2026 National Congress in Sunyani, where members raised concerns about what they described as unfairness in their salary structure and conditions of service.
The Ghana Association of University Administrators has declared a nationwide strike, effective Monday, August 10, 2026.
The decision was announced at the Association’s 2026 National Congress in Sunyani, where members raised concerns about what they described as unfairness in their salary structure and conditions of service.
GAUA says the strike is in response to the widening gap between the benefits received by teaching and non-teaching senior members in public universities.
The congress was held under the theme: “Building agile universities: The role of administrative and professional staff.”
It brought together career administrators and other professionals from universities across the country.
Addressing the opening session, GAUA National President, Rev. Kwaku Amoah Karikari, said the current salary disparity threatens staff morale, industrial harmony and the effective administration of public universities.
He said improving conditions for one category of senior members should not result in what the Association considers discriminatory treatment of non-teaching senior members.
Rev. Karikari recalled that when the Single Spine Salary Structure was implemented in 2012, the market premium for all senior members was harmonised at 114 per cent.
He said the purpose at the time was to maintain fairness among different categories of senior members in public universities.
According to him, no upward adjustment was made until the recent review in 2026.
He noted that an agreement signed between GAUA and government on April 22, 2026, took retrospective effect from April 1, 2026.
The agreement provided a 40 per cent increase in the consolidated market premium and non-basic allowance for non-teaching senior members of universities.
However, GAUA says the increase has still not closed the gap between teaching and non-teaching senior members.
Rev. Karikari said a teaching senior member now receives an average market premium of about GH¢10,000, while a non-teaching senior member receives about GH¢4,718.
This, he said, leaves a difference of about GH¢5,282 within what should be an analogous pay structure.
He described the disparity as inconsistent with fairness, internal equity and the original objective of the Single Spine Salary Structure.
GAUA is also concerned that the lowest-ranked teaching senior member, an Assistant Lecturer, now receives a higher market premium than the highest-ranked non-teaching senior member, such as a Registrar or Finance Officer.
Rev. Karikari said this is troubling because both categories were placed on the same 114 per cent market premium when the Single Spine Salary Structure was introduced in 2012.
The Association says the strike will continue as members press for a fairer salary structure and improved conditions of service for non-teaching senior members of public universities.
