UG unions to take salary fight to Governing Council

– says 3, 4% increases proposed by administration “insulting”
– university claps back, says union was party to increase

Describing the increases proposed by the university administration as insulting to staff, the University of Guyana Workers Union (UGWU) and the UG Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) on Friday revealed that they are pushing for the matter to be heard at the level of the Governing Council.

The University of Guyana Workers Union (UGWU), represented by Union President Bruce Haynes, and the UGSSA, represented by Chairperson Dr Jewel Thomas, on Friday held a joint press conference on campus, wherein they confronted the recent three and four per cent increases the UG administration had announced days ago.
According to UGSSA Chairperson Dr Jewel Thomas, those increases are an insult. She stressed that considering what staff go through — sometimes even subsidising their own classrooms — they deserve more.
“It is completely contrary to the principles of labour relations to impose an increase where trade unions exist and negotiations are possible. The percentages named are also insulting to staff. Moreover, the University’s unions have been trying to negotiate wages and salaries with the University’s administration since January of this year,” she declared.
She explained that the unions want to negotiate for better travel allowances, book allowances, medical scheme, gratuity for persons not on the pension scheme, and pension for staff. On the other hand, Thomas explained, the administration had six items of their own on their agenda, including performance management.
There were other issues to do with the administration’s negotiating team. She said that while they were prepared to go ahead while noting their objection, the administration was unwilling to give in to the unions’ demands that their items take precedence. In an effort to break the gridlock, Thomas said, assistance from Government’s Department of Labour was sought in August.
“The administration refused to meet with us. The Department of Labour invited us to a meeting on October 25; we turned up to that meeting, the administration did not. Instead of inviting us to a meeting, their action was to rush (the salary increases) item on the agenda for a scheduled (Finance and General Purposes Committee) meeting, and to get those present to agree to this unilateral increase. We reject it entirely,” she explained.
Following the announced increases, the unions had written to the UG Pro Chancellor, Retired Major General Joe Singh. It is understood that since registering their complaints, a meeting to address the increases is being planned at the level of the UG Council.
It was announced last week that the Finance and General Purposes Committee (FGPC) had approved three to four per cent salary increases for staff. The increases were reportedly sought by UG’s Vice Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith. They would have been retroactive to January 1, 2018.

Union voted yes
But in a release issued later on Friday, the university administration claimed that President of the UGWU, Bruce Haynes, was party to the unilateral increases, as he was at the FGPC council meeting when the unanimous vote was taken.
The administration also gave its side of the story. Responding to the unions’ contention that the administration had caused the breakdown of talks, the administration noted that the unions wanted certain people excluded from the negotiation.
“They insisted on the exclusion of both the Personnel Officer and the Chief of Staff from the Administration’s team. These conditions were rejected by the administration. These officers were part of the 2017 negotiating team, over which there were no complaints. In addition, this demand represents a violation of a cardinal rule of negotiation: that each party determines the composition of its team.
“The Unions next proceeded to seek the intervention of the Ministry of Labour without formally informing the administration of their intention to refer the impasse to the Ministry of Labour for conciliation. The administration was invited by the Ministry of Labour to a conciliation meeting, and declined the invitation, indicating that there was no impasse as the negotiation did not move beyond differences over the Agenda.”
That being said, the university insisted that it was still open to negotiating with the unions. It also insisted that the three and four per cent increases were made “without prejudice to subsequent negotiation”, and therefore can always be adjusted when negotiations begin.
Meanwhile, other well-placed sources at the university have noted that the union’s demands do not take into account existing allowances that were put in place to incentivise staff. According to one, these allowances include the university’s policy of waiving tuition for eligible staff who study at the university.