'A WIGUT victory': Union pleased as remit received for salary negotiations

SALARY negotiations for UWI, St Augustine staff can now begin as the university's administration confirmed it has received a remit from Chief Personnel Officer Dr Daryl Dindial.

President of the West Indies Group of University Teachers (WIGUT) Dr Indira Rampersad says it is a victory for the union, and had it not been for its industrial actions, they may have still been waiting. All protest actions have now been called off.

Over the last few months, WIGUT protested saying the time had long passed to get a remit.

Members refused to sign and submit final exam papers to the examination section; refusing to upload students' coursework grades and only indicating whether they failed or passed; refusing to have office hours and responses to students and facilitators outside the classroom; and refusing to hold remedial classes.

Asked for an update on the remit on April 5, Dindial and campus principal Prof Rose-Marie Belle Antoine told Newsday discussions were ongoing.

In a press release on Monday, UWI said it "received communication from the Ministry of Education to commence salary negotiations, – the remit for bargaining units of the UWI.

"The campus thanks the minister and her team, the CPO and inter-ministerial committee. In particular, it records its appreciation for the honouring of the timeline given six weeks ago."

It added that the receipt of the remit was communicated to WIGUT, so "it is expected that industrial action will cease as the parties go into negotiations.

"In particular, it is expected that WIGUT will honour its commitment to submit all outstanding exam papers once the remit is received."

Belle-Antoine thanked WIGUT for complying, the release said.

"We do not anticipate any further disruption of the hosting of the semester’s examinations. Notwithstanding the above, due to our statutory requirements for notices in relation to examinations, the campus had already complied on Friday night and issued notices of changed schedules to 31 examinations for which papers were outstanding. These new dates will stand. The papers now being received will be processed with the same integrity and care that is the norm for the holding of UWI examinations."

Belle Antoine said she hopes for a productive and speedy outcome with respect to bargaining, and thanked UWI staff for their patience and understanding.

Speaking to Newsday on Tuesday, Rampersad said Belle Antoine notified WIGUT of the remit on Sunday, which brought much-needed relief to the union's members.

But not only is there a sense of relief, there is "a sense of victory.

"I don't think, had it not been for our continued action and our persistence it would have gone on, because remember, the CPO had it since May 2021 and we weren't getting anything concrete."

While WIGUT does not yet have any details of the remit, Rampersad said she is hoping that talks can begin as soon as possible.

"When they're ready, they will release it...

"It's something you don't really want to do via the internet and via e-mail or WhatsApp. You tend to want to meet the executives face-to-face.

"if it's something reasonable, we negotiate, we work with it...If it's something totally unacceptable, we reject outright, it goes back to the CPO and we come back with something better to them."

She said WIGUT has called off all protest action as "we want to negotiate in good faith with the employer, which is the UWI.

"We are all very, very pleased.

"I think it's a WIGUT victory. It's because of the persistence, commitment and diligence of our members that I think we obtained it."

If not for this, she said, "it would have continued to drag on because no one was paying attention."

Acting Students' Guild president Kyle Bisnath told Newsday the guild is pleased but hopes that in the future, "these matters should be treated with a sense of urgency by the stakeholders involved, as to circumvent any escalation that poses the potential to impact student life and development.

"We continue to support our members and keep a keen eye on exams as they progress and we are satisfied that all students will sit exams this season as expected."