Dear Editor
THE University of Guyana unions have been forced to call for the intervention of the Department of Labour, as the administration has embarked on a series of delaying tactics seemingly designed to force the staff into acceptance of the imposed 3% and 4% salary increase for 2018.

The university’s staff on Tuesday 4th December rejected the attempt of the university’s administration to delay meeting with the unions until Tuesday, 18th December. The offer to the unions to meet to discuss 2018 negotiations was made on Friday, 30th November. In response to a request for clarification, the Vice-Chancellor Professor Ivelaw Griffith made it clear that the administration would have no time to meet with the unions before that date.
The administration has already indicated via a memo to staff that they intend to pay the unilaterally imposed increase before the university closes. The university closes on Friday, 21st December, 2018 for the Christmas break.

On Tuesday, the university’s Registrar Dr Nigel Gravesande, who serves as secretary to the university’s council, finally circulated a proposed date of Thursday, 20th December for the council meeting to address the issue. The matter had been referred to him by the university’s Pro-Chancellor, Major General (ret’d) Joseph Singh since 19th November. This means that council will not have an opportunity to deliberate on the matter until the day before the university closes. The discussion would also take place at a point where most likely the increase would already have been paid out to staff. It is also noteworthy that the time proposed for the council’s meeting is 09:30 hrs. It has proven difficult for many council members in the past few months to attend morning meetings in view of their work commitments. The unions have serious doubts about whether the administration is actually attempting to secure the full participation of all council members.

The university’s administration has made it clear through its actions that it is attempting to force staff into accepting the imposed increases. The university’s staff reject this attempt and call on the Department of Labour to intervene before the situation deteriorates further.

Regards
UGWU and UGSSA