CPO: Discussions on remit for UWI teaching staff ongoing

CHIEF Personnel Officer Daryl Dindial has said that discussions surrounding a remit for senior teaching staff at the UWI, St Augustine campus – to kickstart wage negotiation talks – are ongoing.

For the last two months, the West Indies Group of University Teachers (WIGUT) has been protesting saying it has been waiting too long on the remit.

The union's vice president, Dr Russel Ramsewak, said they are annoyed.

At a protest in March, he said that since 2019, WIGUT had submitted its proposal for salary increases to then campus principal Prof Brian Copeland. But he said it was only in May 2022 that this was delivered to the CPO "for assessment and to further the process."

Since then, he said, "To date, no further action is forthcoming."

He said the latest update the union has had from campus principal Prof Rose-Marie Belle Antoine is that the CPO had said that within four-six weeks he will take the file to an interministerial team.

"What does that mean? We, the members, don't know. Is that a fixed timeline? No. Will that mean in four-six weeks we will have a remit? No. So at this point, we are very, very annoyed."

He added that workers workers "are not prepared to even hear a remit of four per cent. We want that message to be sent very clearly. It must be substantially higher – double digits and above."

Speaking to Newsday on Wednesday afternoon, Dindial said he could not provide details about this as it would breach confidentiality. But he said the office has been in communication with Belle Antoine.

Belle Antoine told Newsday the timeline of four-six weeks was the last communication she got from the CPO.

"I also informed the union at that time. I don't have more information."