The University of Guyana (UG) Council has said that it has been left with no option but to support a call by Vice-Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith for the impasse between the university administration and the workers’ union to be referred to the Labour Ministry for conciliation, according to Pro-Chancellor and Council Chairman Major General (ret’d) Joseph Singh.
The announcement was made in a statement that was issued yesterday in response to concerns by the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) and the University of Guyana Workers’ Union (UGWU) about the Council’s handling of their issues, which include a call for a forensic audit of the university so that they could verify the administration’s claims that unilaterally-imposed salary increases were all that it could afford. The unions have rejected the increases, which were imposed last year.
The unions, in a joint statement on Tuesday, bemoaned that the Council did not make any decisions on matters relating to workers during the meeting, where it says their concerns were relegated to the bottom of the agenda.
In a statement in response yesterday, the Council explained that Singh, noting the content of the unions’ joint press release, expressed his “regret at the course of action taken by the Unions to distort the outcomes of the Council meeting held on March 7, 2019, at which the Unions’ representative was present and participated fully in the discussions and decisions of the Council.”
It further stated that prior to the Council meeting last week, on February 15th, Singh appealed to the leadership of the Unions and Administration to return to the negotiating table “in a spirit of compromise, transparency and cordiality.”
“Additionally, three non-university members of the Council were requested to join the Administration’s team. Their collective mandate was to address the issues that have been responsible for generating tensions, mutual distrust and aggravation, and craft a way forward that would address the concerns of both the Unions and the Administration,” the statement said, while noting that an agreement was reached on February 21st to recommence negotiating talks between the Administration and Union.
The statement also said that the Council noted communication from the Unions, dated January 30th, and had a brief discussion on the content of the letter in the absence of a quorum but noted that some of the issues were substantially discussed as part of other agenda items and that Singh directed that full consideration be given to the issues raised in the Union’s letter at the upcoming meeting of the Finance and General Purpose Committee on March 20th.
The release quoted Singh as saying, “Even though the Council was prepared to facilitate a process that will enable a return to the negotiating table by the Unions and the Administration, and the Vice-Chancellor immediately after the Council meeting on March 7, 2019, issued an invitation to the leadership of the Unions to meet with him and his team on Friday, March 8, 2019, the Unions have demonstrated their lack of trust and interest in such a process.”
As a result, he said Vice-Chancellor Griffith indicated his preference for the impasse to be referred to the Ministry of Labour for conciliation.
The statement added that Singh further said that the Council, now recognising that the facilitating role it has initiated has not met with the desired response from the unions, has no option but to acknowledge and support the decision by the Griffith and his Administration to return the Ministry of Labour’s conciliation process.
The Unions had also said that there were no responses to requests to set up a special subcommittee to deal with human resources issues.
However, the Council statement noted that the need to have the transformation of the Personnel Division to a Human Resources Department was discussed at the meeting and they directed that a status report must be presented at the meeting of the Finance and General Purpose Committee that is scheduled for next Wednesday, and such a report must be accompanied by appropriate costing and timelines for the transformation process.
“At the meeting, Council was informed that formal communication was received from the Vice-Chancellor expressing an interest in the renewal of his Contract of Engage-ment upon its expiration later this year. In considering this matter, the Council established a Committee to recommend to the Council the following: criteria to be utilised in evaluation, recommendations or the composition and Terms of Reference of the Evaluation Committee that will be appointed to conduct the evaluation process; and that the recommendations of the Committee be presented to the Council for its consideration by April 15, 2019,” the statement further added.