The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has ordered specified senior management officials of public universities to return to work, saying they are not eligible to participate in the ongoing industrial action by the Ghana Association of University Administrators (GAUA) and the Technical University Senior Administrators’ Association of Ghana (TUSAAG).The directive affects Vice-Chancellors, Pro Vice-Chancellors, Registrars, Directors of Finance or Finance Officers, Directors of Internal Audit, Directors of Health Services, Directors of Procurement, Directors of Works and Physical Development, Directors of Information Technology, Deans, Directors and Heads of Academic Units, as well as all Deputy Directors and Vice-Deans.GTEC said the officials occupied executive, managerial or policy-making positions whose functions required them to remain at post during industrial action.In a directive dated August, 17, 2026 and addressed to heads of tertiary institutions, the Deputy Director-General of GTEC, Prof. Augustine Ocloo, said the Commission had noted “with concern” that some senior management officials in the excluded positions had joined the strike.Prof. Ocloo said the officials were expected to return to work because of the nature of their functions and responsibilities.The directive was based on the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651), particularly Sections 163 and 170, Section 20 of the Labour Regulations, 2007 (L.I. 1833), and the National Labour Commission Regulations, 2006 (L.I. 1822).GTEC said those provisions restricted workers in executive, managerial or policy-making positions from participating in industrial action where their functions aligned with the interests of management and the employer.“A Senior Management Official who is both a member of a trade union and an officer of management may, therefore, be placed in a position of divided loyalty when the union undertakes industrial action,” the directive stated.It added that such officials owed a fiduciary duty to their employers, particularly those serving under contractual arrangements.GTEC has, consequently, directed Vice-Chancellors to submit, within 48 hours of receiving the directive, a register of all senior management officials who joined the strike and failed to comply with the order to return to work.The Commission also directed public universities to prevent the industrial action from disrupting essential institutional and student services.The services include end-of-semester examinations, auditing, telecommunications and internet services, student portals and registration systems, healthcare, cleaning and janitorial services, and the processing of salaries and other payments.GTEC said it had received reports of attempts to disrupt internet access, student portals, registration systems, cleaning services and health services on some campuses.It warned that any unlawful disruption of essential services could constitute a breach of the Labour Act.The directive comes after GAUA reactivated its nationwide strike on August 10, 2026, over what it described as persistent disparities in market premium and related allowances between teaching and non-teaching senior members of public universities.The decision was taken at the association’s national congress in Sunyani on August, 7, 2026, following concerns over differences in the remuneration of teaching and non-teaching senior members. Recent reports indicate that the dispute centres on the revised market premium and related allowances.TUSAAG subsequently declared its full support for the GAUA action, saying its members had also experienced the disparities that led to the industrial action.The action, therefore, involves university administrators represented by GAUA and senior administrators in the technical universities represented by TUSAAG. It does not involve all university employees.The Commission said it “remains committed to supporting an amicable resolution of the grievances underlying the industrial action” and urged both associations “to exercise restraint and responsibility” while keeping their action.