UG unions reject ‘imposed’ pay increase- say entire situation is “deeply disrespectful”

Nov 21, 2018 News

Although the University of Guyana’s administration last week committed to paying workers increases before Christmas, the workers’ unions – the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association [UGSSA] and the University of Guyana Workers Union [UGWU] – have rejected the proposed increases.

UGSSA President, Dr. Jewel Thomas

Last week, the administration announced that a three percent pay increase has been approved for academic staff [UA] while support staff [UB] will be eligible for a four percent increase. The pay increase, the administration said, will be retroactive to January 1, 2018.
However, in a joint statement issued by the unions Monday, it was highlighted that “The University Unions completely reject the imposed increases announced by the University for 2018, the entire situation is deeply disrespectful.”
The unions pointed out that not only are the imposed increases a violation of good labour relations practices, but “some might say that arrogance and hypocrisy are displayed in this action.”
Seeking to backup their argument, the unions disclosed that in October, Vice Chancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith, asked for the award of his second bonus of the year, since a first was awarded earlier in the year for 2016-2017.
“With the assistance of the Chancellor, he was finally given that bonus at the Annual Business Meeting of the University on Thursday 8th November 2018. He fought for his bonus while resisting an objective assessment of his performance,” the unions asserted.
But the unions observed that “affordability was never an issue when his bonus was under consideration.”
The unions’ move to highlight this state of affairs is linked to the fact that the pay increase for workers will be conditional, as according to the Vice Chancellor, “the Administration maintains the principled position that performance will be a factor in this exercise, and that no academic staff with outstanding grades will be granted the increase.”
The unions are concerned that staffers are being asked to accept a “minuscule unilateral increase on the grounds of affordability.”
The unions, headed by Dr. Jewel Thomas [UGSSA] and Mr. Bruce Haynes [UGWU], disclosed that attempts were made to negotiate this year’s salary increases with the

UGWU President, Mr. Bruce Haynes

administration since January 12, 2018. They however noted that, “when we first wrote to the Vice Chancellor to request the start of negotiations, the agenda for the negotiations could not be agreed, because the administration refused to let the unions’ agenda items be discussed first, and to delay other matters until a promised transformation had occurred at the University.”
The unions in their joint statement said that the number one agenda item was wages and salaries for 2018, and added that, “it is disingenuous for the Vice Chancellor to claim that he has been forced to ask for the unilateral increase, because he could not get us to agree to discuss these matters.”
“The administration has refused to negotiate wages and salaries with the unions, going so far as to fail to attend a conciliation meeting requested by the Unions. This meeting was scheduled by the Department of Labour for 25th October 2018, and the Unions showed up, but the administration never did,” the unions complained.
Stressing their disappointment that the Finance and General Purposes Committee [F&GPC] of the University was a part of such an action against the staff of the University, the unions’ representatives recalled that, “Last year, when the administration refused to negotiate with the unions, Council requested that they do so, and so negotiations began.”
It is therefore their belief that “now by appearing to endorse the administration’s actions in not negotiating with the Unions, F&GPC not only acquiesced in the violation of labour principles, but also violated the principles for the award of salary increases outlined by the Government of Guyana.”
The Coalition government, the unions highlighted, has been clear that salary increases should be negotiated and not imposed, as has been the case in the past. As such, the unions have concluded that the F&GPC has participated in a very retrograde step. For this very reason, the unions warned, “The administration should be assured that the University’s staff will respond to this insulting development.”

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