The University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) and the University of Guyana Workers’ Union (UGWU) yesterday called for the resignations of UG’s Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Council, Major-General (Ret’d) Joseph Singh, and Vice Chancellor (VC) Ivelaw Griffith.
The call is the latest development with regards to the disagreement between the unions and the administration of the university. Both unions are of the opinion that the Pro-Chancellor and the VC are failing the university by not addressing matters of concern affecting students and staff.
The resignations call yesterday, made during a press conference hosted by the unions, comes a day after they said that they had no confidence in Singh’s leadership.
Speaking at the press conference, Dr Jewel Thomas, the President of the UGSSA, emphasised that they are calling on the university’s Council to stand by its initial decision to send the VC on routine end-of-contract leave.
She said that if the Council fails to act, the unions will be writing to President David Granger and Winston Jordan and Nicolette Henry, Ministers of Finance and Education respectively, highlighting their dilemma and seeking their intervention. Thomas said that they had reached out to Henry but were unable to engage her.
The unions are objecting to a round-robin decision to reverse an earlier decision to send Griffith on standard end-of-contract leave. He will instead be paid in lieu of leave. They have also been at odds with Griffith on a variety of issues.
Thomas said in the laws governing the university, special reasons need to be outlined and placed before the Council in order for pay in lieu of leave to be granted. “You have to have sound grounds supported by a faculty or other staff members saying that the job cannot be done without your presence or some other reason,” she said.
On May 14th, the administration of UG had defended the round robin decision.
“It is my understanding that the round robin practice has been in place over the years and has been utilised by Council and other Statutory Organs of the University, therefore, it should not be interpreted as a special dispensation for the incumbent Vice-Chancellor,” Singh was quoted as saying.
Alluding to the potentially harmful impact the tension between the administration and the unions can have, the Pro Chancellor, in reference to the unions’ threats of industrial action, advised the parties involved to, “Be responsible and ensure that the administration of our final examinations is not disrupted. I urge that our students, the primary stakeholders, be accorded the highest priority in this season of Examinations.”
The administration said that on May 2, Griffith wrote to Singh to request a reconsideration of the Council’s April 15 decision, citing, among other things, that ‘“extenuating circumstances” oblige him to forgo proceeding on leave effective from that date and requested to be paid for “30 of the 35 days’ due to him’, the release related.
Following this, the Pro-Chancellor requested a review of the decision by round robin of all members of the Council, who were also asked to indicate their support of the VC’s request to be paid a portion of his leave entitlement.
Bruce Haynes, Presi-dent of the UGWU, yesterday stressed that the university will not collapse without a VC as systems are in place to make the institution functional in the absence of one.
“It will not collapse if we don’t have a VC…We have been without Vice Chancellors for months and the university didn’t collapse. So what is the big deal now?” Haynes questioned rhetorically.
Both Haynes and Thomas stressed that the image painted to the diaspora and members of the public by the VC is far from reality and they highlighted a plethora of problems students and staff face.
“With what the VC is telling the public, you can think sugar is produced here. GuySuCo produce sugar but what the VC is saying all the sugar is produced here…” Haynes said sarcastically.
According to them, for weeks, the washrooms have been without water and they were forced to close offices and cancelled classes.
Thomas said that while she was aware of the issue, she had thought it was rectified until a student informed her nothing was done to fix the water issues on campus.
Accustomed
“Students have become so accustomed to the issues at the university that they stop complaining,” Thomas said, recounting that after learning that the water issue had not been fixed, she wrote to the relevant persons. She said shortly after, she learnt the issue was rectified.
“I want people from the diaspora to come and be here during a midday lecture when students and lecturers have to be in these hot and airless stables. I have had two instances where my students fainted,” Thomas added.
She also said that large sections of the university have been without internet access for several days allegedly because of unpaid bills, a situation which affected the work of the various faculties.
The union reps pointed out too that staff had to endure working under harsh conditions recently after difficulties with the air-conditioning unit.
Thomas mentioned that washrooms had to be closed because of the inability of the university to purchase required parts and said there is a shortage of items such as toilet paper, cleaning supplies, and printer ink – items that are needed to execute their duties.
The UGSSA representative further highlighted that the mantra of the VC is affordability, whenever a request is made for items to remedy issues. However, when it comes to the VC and his needs, she said, the mantra does not apply.
“This VC has one of the most elaborate packages than any other VCs. The university covers the cost of the VC’s transportation on and off duty, his housing, staff at his home, airfare, which he has asked to be business class. He receives his gratuity and bonuses,” Thomas said. She added that as a sitting member of the Council, they have not been privy to the details of the VC’s package but contended that he is the highest paid VC of the university.
“The Pro-Chancellor has refused to provide the details of what the VC’s package includes. We, the Council, who has the financial responsibility of the university do not know the numbers and it is not being shared,” the UGSSA president stated.
Thomas declared that the VC has been failing to fulfill his mandate and meet with the unions to address key issues that were in existence prior to his appointment. She said too that the Pro-Chancellor has failed to carry out a university-wide assessment on the performance of the VC.
“The VC is supposed to be evaluated, he was supposed to go through a university-wide evaluation. That process but will now no longer take place because of time. The Pro-Chancellor knew of this since November but he has been dragging his feet,” Thomas contended.
She believes Singh should take responsibility for the position the council is in at this juncture and resign since she said he has failed to act in the best interest of the university.
“You should have enough intelligence to assess the situation and … do the right thing. When we assess where Council is right now and how dysfunctional Council is, then yes, as the person who has been the major director of Council over the last few months, yes, you have to take some responsibility…” she said.
Thomas further said that they have asked their members to adopt a stance of non-cooperation with any policy directive, request or instruction emanating from the VC as they “consider the decision of the Council meeting of 15th April [to send the VC on end-of-term-leave] to be both proper and justified.” She said that in their view, the VC is currently on leave.
