— UG unions continue to protest ills on campus

The University of Guyana Workers Union (UGWU) and the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) will not be heading into the conciliation proceedings with the university’s administration.

“We are probably not going to go to conciliation immediately… but we have to communicate this officially,” UGSSA President, Dr. Jewel Thomas told Guyana Chronicle on Wednesday.

“As far as our situation is concerned, the administration is trying to convince us that there is no money and to that end, they will share the document with the MoSP, Department of Labour, that they have already shared with us,” Dr Thomas explained.

However, the lecturer said the issues the unions have with pursuing that route now is that they do not “trust” the documents. Further, when those documents are shared with the Labour Department, it will reflect that the university has no additional money to pay the lecturers.

UGWU President Bruce Haynes also shared that his union does not believe that conciliation is the way to go now, since the university has said that it cannot afford the increases.

“If you are not putting [any sum of money] on the table, what are we talking about? What are you agreeing to? We’re going back to square one,” Haynes said.

Sections of the university were without Internet access at the time of Wednesday’s protest, according to Haynes who questioned: “Why are we at this stage; because we don’t have money to pay the Internet bill?”

NEED TOTAL HONESTY

Instead of moving to conciliation, Haynes suggested that “the administration be totally honest with its staff” about the university’s expenditure.

In November 2018, UG Finance and General Purposes Committee unanimously approved a last-minute request by the administration and imposed a three per cent salary increase for UA (academic) staff, and a four per cent increase for UB (support) staff, retroactive to January 1, 2018. The increase was approved by UG’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith.

On Tuesday, the Chief Labour Officer (CLO) Charles Ogle convened conciliation proceedings between the UG administration and the workers’ unions in light of the impasse over negotiations of wages and salaries for 2018.

Dr. Thomas, however, highlighted that the unions would meet on Wednesday afternoon to finalise the text of the correspondence that will be sent back to the ministry and UG’s administration to indicate that they will not move to conciliation just yet.

The unions began their protest outside the old vice-chancellor’s building at UG during the lunch period on Monday. There, members of the teaching staff called for a financial audit to be done at the institution, since they claim that funds are being misappropriated instead of being used to develop the teaching space.

This misappropriation of funds, they claim, is the reason the university is unable to pay further increases to staff.

On Wednesday, Dr. Thomas also indicated that the issue is no longer just about the trivial increases offered for 2018, but it is now about examining the expenditure of the university’s administration.

Part of the picketing was to raise awareness on these issues, because the issue is one of national interest, according to Dr Thomas.

POOR TEACHING CONDITIONS

Immediate UGSSA Past President, Dr. Pat Francis bemoaned the conditions under which teaching has to occur at UG.

“These students do not have adequate rooms, so many days they have to walk around campus looking for a room and if they are in a space like the George Walcott Lecture Theatre (GWLT), some students are in the corridor taking notes on a lecture that is going on inside,” she said. Some students, according to her, have to be traversing the campus in search of chairs and to cram themselves into small teaching spaces.

She also lamented the imposition of the wage and salary increases back in November and highlighted that the coalition government has promised that remuneration would emerge out of negotiation.

“We are very unhappy, we cannot let it pass because if we accept this imposition of three and four per cent, in the future what can we say?” she questioned. “We have to say no to imposition of wages and salaries on the staff.”

“I give the government credit for giving the university more money over the year… but where the money is going we do not know, and therefore, it is not going, as far as we are concerned, to the core responsibilities of the university, which is teaching and learning,” Dr Francis said.

And as such, she joined the call for a forensic audit to be done, to allow for transparency in the university’s expenditure.

Further, she related that the university has employed “too many administrators”, which has resulted in it becoming “top heavy”. This approach, according to her, is one which includes the employment of “oligarchs” who have been fashioning the university similar to North-American schools.

She also indicated that there have been several incidents where lecturers have been disrespected by the administration.

In support of Dr. Francis, Haynes said: “You would believe that every single lecturer or person who has contact with the students is out there to deny the students, but it is not all. It may be a few persons and that can be dealt with and when you decide that you’re going to paint everybody with the same brush, you are grossly disrespecting every single staff member.”

OVERCROWDED CLASSROOMS

At UG, Haynes said there are overcrowded classrooms and lack of technological advancements.

“We are not asking for the conditions of a palace, but what we are saying if you believe what we do is important, provide us with the materials to do it. Make sure that we are comfortable,” he said.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith has indicated to the Guyana Chronicle that he has no objection conducting a financial audit since he has nothing to hide.

According to him, the reason for the emphasis being placed on the “Renaissance” project (a project which the teachers have contended there is a misappropriation of funds on) is partially to rebrand and rebuild the university and to forge partnerships with people who can help the university rebuild and rebrand.