Next month’s exams at The University of the West Indies’ St Augustine campus could be in jeopardy, after the West Indies Group University Teachers (WIGUT), the union representing lecturers and academic staff, has begun pulling back their services over stalled wage negotiations.
Fed up with inaction on their salary negotiations, WIGUT said 800 affected staff members are now taking matters into their own hands.
President of the group, Dr Indira Rampersad, explained that in 2019, a proposal was submitted for the commencement of negotiations. Several meetings were held since then and amendments were made to the proposal. However, Dr Rampersad said up to now, the negotiation has not moved forward.
“WIGUT members – that is a group of academic, senior, administrative and professional staff - have not had an increase in salary since 2014,” Rampersad told Guardian Media in a telephone yesterday.
Dr Rampersad said they were told that the campus senior management had submitted the proposal and has also written to Chief Personnel Officer Dr Daryl Dindial. However, the management has not received any responses up to this point, Rampersad said.
“They did assure us that they did submit and that they have been following. The members told us it was not robust enough. We have a new principal and she assured us that she’s been doing what she has to do. But we have not received a remit, which is an offer,” Dr Rampersad said.
During a protest at the St Augustine campus on Wednesday, WIGUT members were approached by Campus Principal Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine. She assured them that a remit will be made, Rampersad noted.
“The Principal, being the primary agent on the campus, she and her team are the ones we negotiate against. However, the Principal and her team does not pay salaries,” Rampersad said.
“The salaries are paid by the Government and the Chief Personal Officer is the one in charge of providing that remit. So, it’s a peculiar situation because the senior management members are also members of WIGUT. But it has worked in the past,” Dr Rampersad noted.
She said unless an offer is put on the table, then the frustrations of the staff will be felt in the classrooms.
“Nine years we waited, and we didn’t get anything, right. If they don’t get a remit right now, then our collective action is going to escalate throughout February, March and April until we get a remit. And we can very well see campus operations come to a hold,” Dr Rampersad warned.
Asked what members are planning to do, she said, “Exam papers are due in March and uploading the grades are usually due in May. We hope it wouldn’t go so far because we have a vested interested in the university and our students”.
Guardian Media understands that effective immediately, there will be no uploading of coursework marks to UWI’s Banner system and no submission of coursework grades to students. While coursework may be marked, students will only be informed of their “Pass” or “Fail” if they request it.
Furthermore, the group declared the week of February 13-17 “Red Week,” where staff wore red. During that week, members were advised to “withdraw enthusiasm” and performed only duties related to teaching and delivery of classes. This included not attending any meetings or other ascribed responsibilities. Members also urged members to
Dr Rampersad said with an over 30 per cent increase in the cost of living, they are done listening to “a stuck record.” In fact, she said staff had been looking to leave the profession, as it was no longer financially sustaining them.
Guardian Media contacted Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly and Professor Belle Antoine yesterday for comment on the situation. However, up to press time, neither had returned calls or messages.
Also contacted yesterday, acting Student Guild President Kyle Bisnath said, "We are aware of the economic situation the country is in and the effects it has on both students as well as teachers. However, the Guild will continue to advocate for quality education at the university. Teachers, as well as the UWI administration, are urged to have comprehensive discussions and resolve the pay raise issue quickly, as the students are the ones that would be most affected."