University of Guyana (UG) staff yesterday staged a sit-in that concluded after they were paid salaries owed to them since last Thursday even as the institution’s Vice-Chancellor professor Jacob Opadeyi bemoaned its continuing financial deficiencies.
During a meeting yesterday, executive members of the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) and the University of Guyana Workers Union (UGWU) instructed UG staff members to commence the sit-in from 1 pm, after they learned that they had not yet been paid.
Last Friday, UGSSA President Patsy Francis had said that the UG administration had been given up to yesterday to pay salaries after it failed to make the payments last Thursday. The members of the UGSSA unanimously decided that if salaries were not paid by 4:30 pm, then the industrial actions would continue until payments were made.
Francis, however, received word from the Bursary yesterday afternoon that as of 3 pm salaries had been paid. However, some staff members may have to wait a little longer before they receive their salaries.
Francis said that while holders fr accounts at Republic Bank will be able to immediately access their money, those with accounts at GBTI and Scotibank may have to wait the procedural three working days before they can access theirs.
Meanwhile, Opadeyi admitted that he was tired of running around to find money to make salary payments. Opadeyi said that his intention when he was appointed was to find ways to move the university forward. Instead, he said, he has found himself managing debt and ensuring that there is enough money to make pay salaries on a monthly basis.
“Every month I have to be spending two or three days for the staff to get salaries. I didn’t come here to manage a university like that,” said Opadeyi.
Opadeyi yesterday explained that the university’s inability to make payments to its staff last Thursday developed out of two main factors. He said that the ongoing special audit was one such factor. Opadeyi conveyed that UG administrators are currently unaware of the true state of the university’s accounts, which prompted the special audit. “Our account needs to be audited and we don’t want to put in new money when we do not know the true state of the account of the university,” he said, while noting that once the university’s financial position is verified, it will better be able to determine how to move forward.
He also said that the inability to make the payment was prompted because Ministry of Finance failed to release funds in a timely manner after the approval of the 2013 National Budget.
He said “someone on the government’s side did not know that, unlike the rest of the public service, UG staff is paid on the third Thursday of the month as opposed to closer to month end. Opadeyi said that since this is the case, payment preparations for UG staff should have commenced around the 14th. This did not occur and led to the non-payment of salaries. He said that were UG staff members paid around the same time as other public servants the issue would not have occurred, and promised that it will not reoccur next month.
Francis nevertheless maintained that UG has a “chronic financial problem.” She said that apart from issues relating to being paid on time, there is also the issue of the non-payment of PAYE, NIS, insurance and other contributions for staff members. She said that whether or not the staff received payment yesterday the union intended to approach the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders to develop a holistic approach to putting an end to the university’s financial woes.
