The University of Guyana Workers Union (UGWU) and the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) yesterday held a picketing exercise, at the Turkeyen Campus, calling for the UG Administration to commence negotiations for their pay increases.
Armed with placards, in front of the Vice Chancellery Building, about 30 members or so of the UGWU and UGSSA, marched around the UG pond calling on Vice Chancellor Dr Ivelaw Griffith to engage in talks for wage and salary increases, at least, based upon what was recommended for UG in the National Budget.
A meeting held on Monday with the Vice Chancellor, according to the unions, left them with the opinion that Griffith misunderstands his leadership role, and he is paying lip service to the idea of a unified university with minimal antagonism.
Jewel Thomas, President of the UGSSA said that the protest was being held because the UG administration had not begun negotiations with them concerning wages and salaries for 2017. Thomas said that they have been asking for talks since in January. “They said that they would have begun negotiations and we went to what we thought was a negotiation on February 27, only to be told that at the meeting that there will be no negotiations,” Thomas related.
Thomas told Stabroek News, that as a result of the administration’s decision, they wrote letters asking for a date to begin negotiations, for a percentage increase for this year. The UGSSA President said that apart from this, they stated in the letters that the sewerage system on campus had been affecting students and staff. “The letters contained a dose of three elements, the sewerage system on campus which has been getting worse, request for a percentage offer for this year, and a request to begin negotiations for wages and salaries as they thought they had gotten an agreement for,” Thomas informed. She said that the administration replied to say that they would be acting on the sewerage system, which they have done, but they have refused to respond on the other issues.
Thomas said that they believe that the UG administration is refusing to give them what was allocated for the staff in the National Budget. “What they are trying to do is pin different sides of the university against each other, and to use the situation to delay the payment of our increase, as a factor in the request to increase tuition fees,” Thomas said.
The UG unions contend that they are only asking for 15% of what has been allocated for the university staff in the budget.
Pat Francis, Treasurer and former president of UGSSA, also spoke with Stabroek News and said that Professor Griffith has shown no specific interest in the welfare of the staff, nor in the conditions under which they work. “We have significant problems with him [Professor Griffith], because he is not unlocking the potential of the workers on campus, but rather he is more interested with diaspora and etiquette, and he is not interested in fixing the fundamental problems of the university,” Francis said. The protestors told the media that if their demands for negotiations are not met they will ‘ratchet-up’ the protest actions, and they would like the government to know that it has nothing to do with them, and it is a protest against the current management of the University of Guyana. However, they are expecting the government to rein in the spending of the vice chancellor and his team.
While the protesters were picketing, Professor Griffith came out and left the compound in a waiting vehicle.
In a press release on Tuesday, UG stated that its main policy decision body, the University Council, is scheduled to have a watershed meeting on March 30, to decide upon several aspects of the vice chancellor’s forward looking plans for the 55 year-old national entity’s renaissance.
The release said that the university’s top administrator had listed several critical items to be put on the Council’s agenda, which were aimed at addressing the insufficiencies plaguing faculties, staff and students, including a multi-year pay hike for faculty and staff beginning 2017.
Professor Griffith noted in the media bulletin that there were hard realities to be faced, and tough decisions which will have to be made in order to get the university to where it should be. “If we don’t face it, we can’t fix it. I am in the business of facing and fixing. I have been here for only eight months and there is a lot of that to do. We have to keep focused on the work to benefit our students and our staff,” UG’s tenth vice chancellor was quoted as saying, in the release.
Efforts to contact Professor Griffith in office yesterday proved futile, as Stabroek News was told that he had left the campus for the day.
