University of Guyana staff resumed duties yesterday after the worker’s union and the university administration reached a deal.
Chairman of the University of Guyana Workers’ Union (UGWU) Bruce Haynes reported that administration officials, led by Vice-Chancellor Professor Lawrence Carrington, have taken the concerns of workers on board, which resulted in the workers reconsidering the decision to continue their sit-in.
Haynes disclosed that protest action was taken at noon yesterday prior to the discussions between the union and the administration. He said the discussions with the officials were favourable since the administration has indicated a willingness to give further consideration to the 5% increase which workers say is long overdue. Haynes noted that the administration raised additional issues which are to be examined by both parties.
On Wednesday, workers at the Turkeyen campus staged a sit-in over the non-payment of a 5% salary hike and argued that the “bureaucracy” within the Finance Ministry was preventing them from getting what they deserved.
However, a senior official at the Finance Ministry told this newspaper the entity cannot be blamed since the matter at hand is out of its jurisdiction.
Haynes had said earlier that when the President promised a retroactive pay hike for public servants, the university’s workers did not receive the full amount owed to them. He said following deliberations with the university’s administration, the outstanding money to be paid to workers was included in this year’s university budget, which was subsequently approved by the University Council. According to Haynes, the projected figure would have brought the UG staffers on par with other public service workers who are already receiving their increase.
