radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
Faced with impending retrenchment, staff and students of the University of T&T staged another round of protests ahead of a planned meeting with the Government and UTT’s executives to discuss an uncertain future.
Led by second vice president of the Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union Sati Gajadhar-Inniss, the protesters marched in a circle outside UTT’s Corinth campus in Ste Madeleine, chanting “Al Zubaidy Must Go!” Some of them held up placards which read, “Cut down 100 managers, 36 per cent total salary bill” and “Tamana Campus for Sale.”
Gajadhar-Inniss said the demonstrators came from the Corinth and San Fernando and were worried over impending plans to retrench 287 people without consultation with the OWTU.
Saying they were expected to have a meeting next Wednesday with Education Minister Anthony Garcia and UTT executives, Gajadhar-Inniss said the union will be reviewing the proposed retrenchment.
“A lot of discussions have to be held before any retrenchment takes place because so far we viewing the document and a lot of things have not been said to us,” Gajadhar-Inniss lamented.
Questioned further, Gajadhar-Inniss said, “How is UTT going to operate minus the 287 workers? They saying they want to save $70 million but what percentage of our workforce is going to be affected by that as they try to save $70 million. Certainly from all indications it seems they are going to retrench but if any cost cutting measures have to be done, it must be done in conjunction with the union.”
She said the Government must explain what courses are going to be changed and how job descriptions are going to be affected.”
She noted that on January 11, president of UTT Professor Sarim Al-Zubaidy sent a proposal to the union on its restructuring process. The proposal stated that 287 workers would have to be retrenched which would result in an estimated annual cost savings of $41.5 million. In the first phase of restructuring Al-Zubaidy said UTT saved $35.5 million having cut academic staffers. Further job cuts will save UTT $20 million, Al-Zubaidy added.
UTT recorded a deficit of $33 million in November 2017 while its reserves currently stand at $2 million. The University usually gets a monthly subvention of $16.7 million, however, for the past three months, they only received $10 million for each month.
