REQUIEM OF A UNIVERSITY

Feb 09, 2015 Letters

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Dear Editor,
It is with great sadness that I write this open letter to inform the general public today about the death throes of the University of Guyana to which we all but more specifically the Support staff have contributed their blood, sweat and tears.
It was expected that those reposed with authority would be sympathetic and work in our favour but alas this was just a figment of our imagination; the reality has proven to be worse than what we have imagined.
In the dire times of the floods of 2005, the support staff of the University of Guyana were forced to clean up a definitely hazardous environment with minimum equipment and safety wear; forced by the University administration then to work with no word of compensation but only threats.
However, when the time came for the discussion on compensation for a task not ever envisaged and an event unprecedented in the history of Guyana, the University administration then, and the University administration today vacillated over compensation to the support staff; it was six months after the event then, and this time around three years after the staff of the University returned to work from strike action. Same reaction; the situation is the same – ridiculous.
In 1994 the staff of the University of Guyana was split, resulting in the birth of the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association, which the University administration then recognized as the exclusive bargaining agent for the University academic and senior non-academic staff; with the University of Guyana Workers Union emerging as the exclusive bargaining agent for the support staff.
Due recognision must be given to the support staff and salutations for sticking with the University during those times and even now when the demise of our beloved University is very imminent. In these times of neglect, frustration, marginalisation and downright contempt for the valuable time that the support staff have put in and the constant toiling with constrained financial resources; keeping the flag of the University of Guyana flying high is very commendable and it must be celebrated.
Our wages and salaries negotiations have been controlled with the collusion of the University administration and the University of Guyana Council over the years with greater interference today resulting in the non-recognition of the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association, which sadly has continued and contributed further to the deterioration of the morale of the support staff.
The deterioration of the physical surroundings is alarming as the constrained financial resources cannot upkeep and maintain the physical wellbeing of the support staff.
There is no regard for the support staff welfare with the gains of yesterday eroded under the current administration and yet the demands for excellence are enforced.
The support staff – all of them are the first ones to enter the University environment every working day to prepare the work environment for the remainder of staff who rely on them to man the ship – the sinking ship which they continue to shore up; invariably, the support staff are the last to leave after the hordes of students have left.
In the normal scheme of things, the support staff are regarded as the distant cousin in the University family and least respected. Most of all, the ones who are policed the most and the least paid.
The support staff have been let down by the university administration and the University Council time and time again by empty promises, and they are fed up and thoroughly disgusted. Clearly, the interest is not in us but only to save the University from falling apart.
The events over the last few days have clearly demonstrated that the University administration lacks the caliber of persons to govern it effectively.
The fact that no fight was shown by the University administration in advancing the cause of the support staff at the level of the University Council spoke volumes; this has left the support staff with a feeling of despair and general disgust.
It was a shameful sight to see vacillation at its best; representatives of the University’s administration are reluctant to show militancy and stand in solidarity with the support staff; this reluctance has effectively made the efforts of the Unions that represent the interests of the support staff difficult to sustain.
The last rites were said over a decayed University administration which over the years presided over the gradual decline and demise of the University and allowed themselves to be pressured and cowed by the University Council.
This lack of resistance persisted and the University Council continued to rule and ride roughshod over the affairs of the University.
Yes, the fight is ours; we cannot give up; they can cut our pay but they cannot daunt our spirits as we will stick resolutely to our demands for justice. Justice delayed is justice denied.
One for all and all for one!
Bruce Haynes
Chairman UGWU

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