The University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) and the University of Guyana Workers Union (UGWU), are awaiting the conclusion of today’s UG Council meeting to decide their next step, as it relates to issues that have been brewing between themselves and the university’s Council.
The unions had stated that they have no confidence in the leadership of the institution’s Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Council, Major-General (Ret’d) Joseph Singh, who had led a round-robin vote of sixteen eligible members of the Council to reverse an earlier decision to send Vice Chancellor, Professor Ivelaw Griffith, on standard end-of-contract leave.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday morning, President of the UGSSA, Jewel Thomas, related that there is a Council meeting set for today at 10 am, and its agenda is intended to cover several of the points of dispute raised over the last few weeks, including the round- robin decision, discussions surrounding Griffith’s contract, and other related matters.
“There are a couple of related matters, including the failed evaluation process. And it is important to note that this is the first time the Council will be meeting since April 15, and so the Council has to consider all of that and the entirety of what has transpired, including leave decision and all of that,” she explained.
Thomas also pointed out that they will be also looking at the issue of the Vice Chancellor, considering that the new Vice Chancellor will be selected in-house and not by the Government, which she said has been the usual practice.
“The Council will receive an update and discuss what we do with the contract and related matters. So we are waiting on tomorrow’s discussion and there’s a lot hanging on it and how the Council resolves the issues,” she added.
In a statement, the unions had said that the faculty and staff of the university are calling on the Council to stand by its initial decision to send the Vice-Chancellor on routine end-of-contract leave, and are asking students and staff not to cooperate with any directives given by the VC.
The UG Council had said that the round-robin vote was called by Singh following a request made by Griffith, that he be obliged to forgo proceeding on leave effective May 13, and instead be paid for “30 of the 35 days’ due to him’.
The unions’ statement further noted that having taken into consideration decisions made by Singh over the past few months, they have concluded that “he has guided the Council in a direction that is not in the interests of our sole national University”.
They added, “Under his leadership, the welfare and interests of students, faculty and staff have been neglected and undermined…”
The unions related that during a meeting comprising the university’s faculty and staff who are members of the unions, they came to certain resolutions about the ongoing situation.
As a result, they have called upon the Council to stand by its decision made on April 15 to allow the VC to proceed on routine end-of-contract leave. They added that should the decision be allowed to stand, and should the Council proceed with the payment of funds in lieu of leave on the instruction of the VC, this will be interpreted as setting a precedent, and in future, the university must also pay staff members in lieu of leave at their request, and without regard to the University’s own financial situation and its own requirements. “If the University denies any such request from staff members, legal challenges will ensue,” the unions warned.
Finally, they called on staff and students to “adopt a stance of non-corporation with any policy directive, request or instruction emanating from the Vice-Chancellor”, as they “consider the decision of the Council meeting of 15th April (to send the VC on end-of-contract leave) to be both proper and justified.”
