UTech strike looms
HUNDREDS OF University of Technology (UTech) students could be left without lecturers on Monday as more than 300 members of the academic staff have vowed to stay home to register their dissatisfaction with the lack of progress on the compensation review.
Members of the University of Technology Academic Staff Union (UTASU) have warned that if the Government does not take swift action to address their concerns under the restructuring of compensation, they will withdraw their services on March 18.
The union said it issued a 72-hour notice yesterday to the management of the institution notifying it of the impending action.
Dr Tashieka Burris-Melville, a spokesperson for UTASU, indicated that the union has been asked to wait until April before its issues can be addressed.
However, she said that its members are frustrated with the delays in addressing the compensation review and are expecting that a concrete agreement is reached with the union speedily.
“To date we are one of very few public sector workers to receive any form of compensation and it is quite concerning,” she added.
Burris-Melville said that the union has taken note of the subvention that the Government has set aside for UTech in the upcoming financial year which is less than the sum allocated for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. This, she said, does not suggest that there are immediate plans to deal with the compensation restructuring exercise for UTech academic staff.
After examining a proposed salary scale for the academic staff at UTech, BurrisMelville said the academic staff concluded that it does not reflect the quality of work that the members of the union carry out.
“It does not represent the principles outlined by the compensation review either, and so we have categorically rejected that salary scale that was proposed to us.”
She said a review of the Caribbean Maritime University salary scale revealed that members of the academic staff at that institution were being paid at a higher level than what has been proposed in the salary scale for UTech academic staff.
“If they can call us before Monday morning with the demands that we have put forward and put it in writing to say that they will honour what we are asking, then that can change how we view things,” the UTASU spokesperson said.
The UTASU executive leadership convened a special general meeting with its members on Thursday, March 14, and voted overwhelmingly to withdraw their services owing to their dissatisfaction with the extended delays in resolving the compensation review process.
The union said it remains hopeful for a swift and amicable resolution to the issue.
Today, the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU) and Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr Nigel Clarke, will meet to discuss the implementation of various components of the compensation review.
The JCTU had issued a 10-day ultimatum for the Ministry of Finance to resolve outstanding issues, failing which it could not guarantee normality across the public sector.
However, today’s meeting is expected to bring the parties closer to a resolution on the outstanding matters.