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The National Democratic Congress (NDC) government may be in for a long drawn battle with striking university lecturers, who have rejected the proposal for the payment of their outstanding Market Premiums, which is to be effected in installments. In the wake of the week-long industrial action by university lecturers over unpaid allowances, the Mahama-led government proposed to pay the arrears in three tranches which would be spread from May to September 2013. But members of University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG); the umbrella body of the striking lecturers nationwide, have unanimously kicked against plans to pay their 2012 outstanding allowances in piecemeal. According to the President of UTAG, Dr. Anthony Simmons, in a telephone conversation with DAILY GUIDE yesterday, confirmed that lecturers in all the eight public universities met to deliberate in the options presented by the government, but said the options had been fiercely rejected. Apparently, government had made the proposal to the leadership of UTAG in a bid to quell the nationwide strike, but the leadership indicated that to accept the proposal, they would need the express consent of its members. The last institution to declare its opposition to the proposal is the UTAG chapter in the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) who made their stance clear on Tuesday. The teachers are talking about the payment of the outstanding premium amounting to GHC 10million and the restoration of an �appropriate� market premium for 2013. �We have been lenient with government for quite some time,� noted Dr. Simmons. Negotiation between UTAG and government for the settlement of the arrears started from last year where a four-man committee made up of members of the National Labour Commission (NLC), UTAG, the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) was constituted last year to work out modalities for the settlement of the arrears. DAILY GUIDE gathered that the negotiations were concluded and everybody was happy, suddenly, the FWSC and the government developed cold feet and tried to scuttle the agreement by attempting to introduce other workers into the fray. Dr. Simmons noted that this complicated the negotiations and consequently breaking it down. �We have gone to Labour Commission, we�ve gone to the National Security on three occasions; we have formed a committee to work on the modalities to pay this amount, only for us to be told that all that we have gone through, they have stripped it off.� The week-long strike has brought studies to a grinding halt as students loiter aimlessly on the campuses. According to Dr. Simmons, if the stalemate drags on any longer, University authorities would be forced to alter academic calendars. Taking a cue From the body language of both sides of the negotiation, it appears an end to the industrial action may not be in sight. Government has complained that it is not able to pay the money in bulk due to pressures on government coffers, but the lecturers are adamant saying government�s recent spending behaviour indicates otherwise. �We are here and they have paid other people chunk money, so they should go to the same source and pay our small amount, we are all Ghanaians,� stated the UTAG President who suggested that the body was apparently taking a cue from the huge payments doled out to both Parliamentarians and ministers in the past few months. �Our behaviour doesn�t show that we are poor,� Dr. Simmons noted, citing the extravagant spending of the NDC government where it approved over GHC5,000 each for a four-year rent advance for each of the 275 legislators. �We know that when people are going to rent a flat, normally they pay a two-year rent advance, but we have given some other people four years advance. Aren�t we showing that we have money?�