Latest update November 29th, 2024 1:00 AM
Workers’ unions convinced UG on the brink of crisis
UGSSA President, Dr. Jewel Thomas
Convinced that the University of Guyana [UG] is faced with a number of concerns that have catapulted it to the brink of calamity, the workers’ unions – the University of Guyana Staff Association (UGSSA) and the University of Guyana Workers’ Union [UGWU] – have started to speak out.
The unions have expressed concerns on a number of issues which include but are not limited to the university’s finances, and its violations of multiple statues and procedures. In a joint statement issued by the two unions yesterday, it was emphasised that “The University of Guyana administration has brought the University to the brink of another crisis as it refuses to engage the University Unions on issues of deep importance to workers.”
The unions, headed by Dr. Jewel Thomas [UGSSA] and Mr. Bruce Haynes [UGWU], said that they have been attempting to negotiate with the administration on a range of matters since February 2018, but these have gone nowhere.
It was revealed too that after negotiations with the administration stalled because of the failure to agree on an agenda, the unions took the matter to the Ministry of Social Protection’s Department of Labour in August 2018. However, the administration did not agree to the conciliation meeting scheduled for October 25, 2018, but instead informed the Department that the negotiations were not stalled. Moreover, the unions said that they were forced to supply written evidence to the Department of Labour regarding the lack of progress in the negotiations.
According to the unions too, they have jointly observed that the administration is failing to provide the University’s Council with clear and straightforward information about the state of the University’s finances. The unions have therefore theorised that “This perhaps explains their reluctance to engage in negotiations with the Unions about matters which involve money, since they would have to reveal the University’s true financial situation.”
In fact the unions are of the firm belief that the administration has been trying to prevent the Council from hearing about the ways in which it has been violating the University’s statutes and procedures, and in the process, opening up the institution to claims of discrimination.
The unions are even more worried that their concerns were not included in the agenda at the University’s Annual Business Meeting which was held Thursday last [November 8]. In fact, it was highlighted that the Unions’ previous attempt to have Council discuss them at an Extraordinary meeting on October 3, 2018, was thwarted when the Vice Chancellor left to deal with an ‘emergency’ and asked that they not be discussed in his absence.
The Unions have been trying to place these matters before Council since July 2, 2018.
It was revealed that, “The Union’s request for space on the agenda of the Council meeting held on July 27 was denied. Even though the request was denied on the grounds that the meeting was supposed to primarily address the report of the Governance Committee that had submitted the revised University Act and Statutes, four other items found their way onto the meeting’s agenda.”
The unions have shared too that the University’s Chancellor, Professor E. Nigel Harris, when asked about this at the July 27 meeting, said that the other matters were more important than the concerns being voiced by the Unions.
These actions by the administration, the unions disclosed, amount to a complete refusal to engage with the workers of the University on matters that are important to them.
“It is clear that the administration has no regards whatsoever for the persons who keep the University running. The University’s Unions have been very patient about this situation, but the time for patience is at an end,” the unions said, stopping short of sharing any plans of retaliation.
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