Principal of the University of the West Indies’ St Augustine campus, Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, yesterday empathised with her teaching staff, even as they upped the intensity of their wage talks with another protest outside her office.
Under the watchful eye of armed police officers, members of the West Indies Group of University Teachers (WIGUT) displayed placards highlighting the cost of living and chanted, “We not taking that, we want we money right now.”
To the sound of tassa drums, over 20 WIGUT members started their protest behind the main campus library and then walked to campus principal’s office. A marked police vehicle trailed them. In April and after months of protest, members finally received a remit, but only two per cent was put on the table. Within days the offer was rejected and now, WIGUT has once again promised to shut down operations at the campus if they do not get a better offer.
As members called out to her, Prof Antoine eventually came out and acknowledged them.
Addressing the staff members, who were all dressed in red, Prof Antoine admitted she was in an uneasy position.
“It is a very sad moment for me because I think those of you who know me know that I’ve spent most of my life as an advocate for workers’ rights and balance and industrial relations. So, I’m on the other side of the fence, so to speak,” she said.
“I feel a bit powerless, because I think you know the situation that we are in as the employer but we have the unique situation where we are a publicly funded university, which means that we are not for profit. When Caricom established us 75 years ago, it was with a view to ensuring that we could have regional development with a noble institution such as this, and we have played our part over the years, we attract the best and the brightest,” she noted.
She added, “On the one hand, we have the worst salaries in the entire UWI-verse, we are aware of that. Even the Open Campus has better salaries than us. And, of course, if we were to compare ourselves to the private sector, where I mean, there is no comparison with your qualifications.
“So, there is no doubt in my mind that your cause is justified in terms of wanting to have better pay and better working conditions. I’m not even talking about the allowances because our allowances are also way below the rest of our colleagues in the UWI-verse.”
However, she also noted that the UWI has been facing dark days, as its financial constraints have forced cutbacks, including the sending home of staff.
“But as it stands, the university or the campus in and of itself cannot afford to fund any increases or backpay. As much as I can say, we are down to bare bones at this point where even our quality assurance is being impacted,” the principal lamented.
“And, of course, the Catch 22 situation with the fees, not being able to increase fees, nobody wants to increase fees, by the way. But if you establish yourself as publicly funded, and you’ve lived like that for 60-odd years and then suddenly expected to fund yourself, something has to give. So, it really is a rock and a hard place.”
WIGUT president Dr Indira Rampersad sought to assure that lecturers continue to teach but could not promise they will continue to do so if negotiations fail to move forward.
“So far, what we are doing is we are teaching but we can also advise that may also be in jeopardy. And the exams are coming up in December. But if exam papers are not submitted in November, then how can we have examinations?” Dr Rampersad indicated.
Prof Antoine urged WIGUT members to be responsible in their actions, as she remained optimistic about the outcome of the negotiation.
Meanwhile, an official of the UWI Marketing and Communications Department contacted Guardian Media to deny allegations that the campus had requested police presence during the protest.
The official said the officers were there as part of the TTPS’ mandate to maintain law and order during all protests across the country.
In fact, the official noted that it was the campus principal who eventually asked the police officers to leave the compound during the protest.