Staff of the two unions on the University of Guyana Turkeyen Campus are to proceed on a sit-in strike from Monday to press wages and other demands, posing a threat to classes which are due to resume.
A joint statement from the University of Guyana Workers Union and the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association said that “staff at the University will be on a sit in strike from Monday January 26 to Wednesday January 28, 2015. The UGSSA and the UGWU have notified the VC of the impending industrial action at the University. The two unions said that the notification was based upon a decision taken by staff at the joint union meeting on Monday January 19th to take industrial action if there was no positive response to our four demands.
The joint statement explained that ‘Sit in’ is a form of strike where employees occupy our assigned positions/offices but refuse to work or perform assigned tasks. It said that staff including lecturers are expected to be present on campus at their desks or in the classrooms but will not be engaged in teaching and/or providing services.
“Colleagues I know that none of us takes this action lightly. We are aware of the possible implications of our actions on our students and the University as a whole. Our aim is not to make the students or the University suffer. We are encouraged by public statements that indicate some support for our cause from the UG student leaders. Please help our students to understand that we are simply insisting on better standards and conditions at the University which will be beneficial to them as well.
“Folks, we have been suffering for a long time from starvation wages and an extremely poor and oftentimes dangerous working environment. Notwithstanding the fact that we are already grossly underpaid for the work we already do, we are now experiencing a dictatorial administration that seeks to impose even more work and duties upon us. We have acted in good faith and sought to negotiate with the Administration since May 2012. Just when we appeared to be making slow but somewhat promising progress in our wages and salaries negotiation, the Council intervened, cancelled a scheduled negotiation meeting and halted the process on the grounds that no remit was given and questioning the credentials of the UGSSA [when the administration was directly responsible for our non-certification]. This is simply the latest of a myriad number of excuses we have been given over the past 30 months. It is time we said, ‘enough!’. I encourage all staff to join in the action as any benefits derived from this process, will be received by all”, the statement added.
At a meeting of the two unions on Monday, Dr Mellissa Ifill, Vice Chairman of the UGSSA, explained that a number of proposals had been put forward by the unions. The first of these proposals had been the 60% salary increase, immediately followed by increases over three years in an attempt to be on par with other universities in the region. Further, a 200% increase in travelling allowance was proposed along with the restoration of duty-free concessions, increased book and material allowances, annual research grants, and an improved medical scheme.
Ifill added that the administration had no excuse for not raising salaries after netting $274 million extra from increased tuition fees. She also said the administration’s new workload policy aims to make staff worker longer and harder for less.
Along with industrial action, the unions are threatening legal action over the implementation of the workload policy, which will see academic staff teaching four courses per semester. This legal action could see an injunction against the administration over the workload policy.
According to Ifill, academic staff contracts state that any changes in the regulations governing the conditions of their service to the university could only be made following consultations with the UGSSA along with the recommendation of the Finance and General Purposes Commit-tee. This must also be coupled with the approval of the Council, Ifill said.
