00:00Over 20,000 grades of UB St. Augustine students are being withheld as the West Indian group
00:06of university teachers ramp up their protest action.
00:10The Students' Guild met with the union in an attempt to find a resolution this afternoon,
00:16but none was had.
00:17Genuinely, we understand their cause.
00:20We think it is deserving that they get their pay increase.
00:23They are the academics of the region, they are the ones that push the region to where
00:26it needs to be.
00:27However, we can't necessarily support any action that would cause any individual student
00:32to be affected.
00:33So in terms of their protest action itself, we cannot support it.
00:37In the past, a pass list was published by the lecturers so students would know their
00:42standing before registering for second semester courses.
00:46This time around, the students are waiting for the CPO to present an offer to WGAT after
00:51the group submitted a salary adjustment proposal in March of this year.
00:56When a student doesn't get an accurate reflection of their grade, their transcript now becomes
01:01compromised.
01:02So your transcript is needed for things like gate processing, it's needed for things like
01:06scholarships, it's needed for things like financial aid.
01:08So that puts students in a position where it now affects their academic and financial
01:14capabilities.
01:15So that is why we would like for a very, very swift agreement to be made between the ministry
01:20and WGAT to resolve their salary increase because we do want our lecturers to be paid
01:24fairly.
01:25They deserve to be paid fairly.
01:26However, the one thing that we cannot support and will continue to not support is the protest
01:30action.
01:31Registration, including late registration, ends in the second week of teaching, that
01:37is, mid-February.
01:38Our very last result, the protest action, is not something we would like to go to, but
01:43however, it's not something that we wouldn't go to.
01:45President of WGAT Dr. Indira Rampersad says after radio silence from government, the group
01:50has no choice.
01:51This week we have been asking, you saw the bulletin, no academic advice, and a lot of
01:55things go on at the beginning.
01:58Students need holes removed, overrides, examinations will be held.
02:03We are boycotting all of that, all meetings, at the faculty level, at the department level.
02:10And everything to do with exams, so no grades, we're trying to shut down the system, no library
02:14services, extra work, we've got to do extra work, late library services, registry, Banner,
02:22which is a system in which the mark's going to be also shut down, Banner.
02:25The disgruntled group of university lecturers are working for the least money when compared
02:30to other UWE campuses.
02:32And if government does not make an offer, WGAT promises a vicious cycle to persist.
02:37The government has to act, they cannot treat UWE lecturers like this, and they cannot say
02:42it's about money because they found money to pay themselves.
02:46So on the Salvation Army Commission recommendations, they were able to pay the Prime Minister 47%
02:51increase back pay, millions of dollars, and all of them are between $10,000 and $12,000
02:56increase per month.
02:58Their last adjustment was in 2014, and since then, the university has faced an unprecedented
03:04rate of attrition.
03:05Dr. Rampersad says the quality of education at UWE St. Augustine is at stake, as the university
03:11faces the inability of filling vacancies, and eventually having to accept underqualified
03:16persons to fill posts.
03:18In the meantime, students are asking for the late fee to be waived, and that the UWE administration
03:24communicate with the gate office and sponsors, explaining that the delays are beyond the
03:29control of students.
03:30Urvashi Tiwari, Rupanarayan TV6 News.
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