Sad mistreatment of the UG support staff

Jan 20, 2016 Letters

Dear Editor,
It is with great sadness that I write this open letter to inform the general public today about the diminution of the support staff of the University of Guyana that have contributed their blood, sweat and tears over the years to the service of the University’s administration, academic staff and students respectively.
It was always the expectation of this category of staff, that their interests would attract equal attention from the university’s Administration and by extension the University’s Council.
The reality is that the support staff if considered on a scale of significance – 0 to 10, they have scored 3. This figure clearly indicates the low degree of importance this sector of the University’s staff has been and still is accorded by the University’s Administration and by extension the University’s Council.
This wide diversity of skills and competencies have been grossly undervalued and whenever there are negotiations for the reviewing of salaries and conditions of service, only marginal increases are entertained by the University’s Administration.
In 1994 the staff of the University of Guyana were 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 UA staff (University academic and senior non-academic staff and administrative staff); with the University of Guyana Workers Union emerging as the exclusive bargaining agent for the UB (support staff).
In 2015, the University of Guyana Workers Union and the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association recognized that the University’s Administration was subtly trying to institute the divide and rule principle in the negotiations for salaries and conditions of service process, and had united to represent the workers at the University of Guyana – no distinction.
Due recognition 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 by extension the University of Guyana Council over the years with greater emphasis on the academic Staff’s inputs to the image and status of the University and marginalizing the inputs of the support staff which has led to the low 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’s welfare with the gains of yesterday eroded under the current administration and yet the demands for excellence of performance have not abated.
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, lecturers and senior administrative staff have left.
In the normal scheme of things, the support staff is 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 the support staff are fed up and thoroughly disgusted. Clearly, the interest is not in us but only in the academic staff.
The advent of this new government has bred hope in the hearts of the Support Staff of the University and thus no effort will be spared in seeking an audience to advance the cause of the support staff.
Yes, the fight is ours; we cannot give up; there must be recognition in a tangible way for our valuable labour and service to the University Of Guyana today.
We stick resolutely to our demands for fair compensation and justice; justice delayed is justice denied.
One for all and all for one!
Khemraj. Narine
UG workers’ Union

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