UG Administration has breached Terms of Resumption – Unions

The University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) and the University of Guyana Workers Union (UGWU) on Wednesday contended that the University of Guyana (UG) bluntly violated the clauses laid out in the Terms of Resumption (ToRs) agreement which was signed earlier this month to facilitate the resumption of classes and the restoration of normalcy at the University.

According to the agreement, if parties fail to resolve their differences by June 30, the Labour Ministry will conciliate the matter. If the conciliation fails within seven days, the parties will go to arbitration under a tripartite arrangement where the Labour Ministry will appoint the chair.

Following the meeting, the Unions have indicated to the Labour Ministry, that staff members were under no obligation to honour the Terms of Resumption since UG initially failed to do so.

Feeling significantly insulted, the Unions have promised to sharply respond. They noted that they would soon be meeting to discuss their next course of action and whether or not they will restart their protests.

Following the meeting on Wednesday, the Unions expressed their utmost dissatisfaction with the outcome of the first round of negotiations with UG’s negotiating team.

“To say the meeting was farcical and insulting would be a massive understatement. The University’s team, led by the Deputy Vice Chancellor Academics in the absence of the Vice Chancellor essentially responded to all the items contained in our memo of demands that 1) the University was unable to afford the demand at this time; 2) the practice/benefit remains as is, or 3) the policy is being reviewed. This was no negotiation,” the Unions said in a press release shortly after the meeting.

“Bad faith”

According to them, they were not given a proper opportunity to discuss with the UG Administration their concerns. In fact, they described the proceedings as a monologue rather than negotiations.

In further venting their discontent, the Unions disclosed that the UG has exhibited “bad faith” since lecturers resumed work.

“We were paid late versus immediately as the ToR stipulated and clumsy attempts were made to make some staff work back time without coming to an agreement with the Unions.”

For nearly five weeks, the Unions have been protesting on the grounds of the University, demanding better working conditions and salary increases.

These series of protests caused massive disruption of classes, much to the annoyance of the University of Guyana Student Society (UGSS) which also took to protesting to fight for the resumption of classes.

The protests finally ended about a week ago following the signing of a Terms of Resumption agreement between the Unions and the UG Administration.

The Terms of Resumption Agreement clearly states that upon the recommencement of classes, there shall be no victimisation or harassment by either side such as dismissals, demotions, transfers, among others.