PRESIDENT of the University of Guyana (UG) Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) Dr. Patsy Francis said, yesterday, that the union will call for the institution’s closure if the current impasse is not averted.

She declared that, “under no circumstance” will the endorsement of the cutting of jobs at UG be supported by the unions.
Francis made the remarks during a press conference hosted by unions operating at the tertiary institution to address suggestions by the Vice-Chancellor (VC), Professor Jacob Opadeyi, on the possible cut of staff and programmes seen as being “not economically viable.”
With Francis were Senior Vice-President of UGSSA, Dr. Melissa Ifill and President of the UG Workers’ Union, Mr. Bruce Haynes.
Francis maintained the positions of both the UGSSA and the UGWU to “close the university” through industrial action, if there is any fallout as a result of the current disputes which has put a few departments of the premier institution in jeopardy.
According to the UGSSA President, the UG Administration is expected to come up with alternatives to the currently proposed plan of actions by the VC.
She added that Professor Opadeyi has indicated, in no uncertain terms, that he is going to reduce various departments and, similarly, do away with jobs from different sections.

DRASTICALLY AFFECT
Francis lamented that such a decision would drastically affect both the UG Berbice Campus (UGBC) at Tain, Corentyne, as well as the Institute of Distant and Continuing Education (IDCE) at Turkeyen.
She noted, too, that the Administration has been engaged, for some time, in making top heavy solutions instead of addressing the core issues of the University.
Francis criticised the hiring and recirculating of high ranking university officials who have produced very little, in comparison to the 600 other members of staff who are, often, bereaved by untimely payment.
Ifill concurred that the unions are dissatisfied with the current modus operandi of both the Administration and the Council of the University. She observed that there are many departments and programmes which can deliver more than they are delivering at this moment but have not been consulted in any meaningful way.
The UGSSA Vice-President reiterated the call for reformation of programmes rather than cutting them and urged that there are others not heavily subscribed to but are needed for the development of any society.
President of the UG Students Society, Richard Rambarran, however, has supported the proposals advanced by the Vice-Chancellor, arguing that the financial viability of programmes offered is critical to the sustainability of the University.
Rambarran said it is those very programmes that often contribute to the deficit at the university where the tuition of two or three persons in pursuit of a programme cannot afford to pay the lecturers given the current rates of tuition.
The Unions and the Administration have long remained at loggerheads regarding the operationalising of the University. Last March, disgruntled heads of the UGSSA and the UGWU, in the presence of a Court martial, served a writ on the Vice-Chancellor who was sued for the untimely payment of gratuity and allowances to staff members.

(By Derwayne Wills)