00:00Dr. Gupi Singh tells TV6 he understands the plight of both the protesting
00:06teachers and the students being impacted by the withheld grades. However, he says
00:12it's been 11 years since these negotiations have been ongoing and that
00:17is unfair. The Wigat president previously vowed that the union would be
00:22taking action to shut down the entire UB St. Augustine campus if no
00:27remit was offered for the outstanding bargaining period of 11 years. On Friday,
00:32the finance minister offered a 6% salary increase for the period of 2014 to 2020.
00:39However, the union is yet to respond. On Monday, Dr. Gupi Singh said the offer is
00:46unsatisfactory. It's really a nominal increase of 1% from 002 to 003 and 002
00:55to 003. So, that basically is of no value to the university lecturers and
01:03professors. 11 years later, whatever they give them, even though they give them 5%
01:08at the net present value, what that salary would have been if they
01:13were given in 2017 and in 2020. And now, even though they finish these
01:19negotiations for 2017 and 2020, you still have 5 more years to go. Dr. Gupi
01:26Singh says it is unfortunate that the students are caught in the middle. Last
01:31week, the Student Guild promised to engage in their own protest if the
01:35industrial action of their professors continued. Today, Dr. Gupi Singh says, the
01:41lecturers deserve better from the state. I believe the West Indies group of
01:46unified teachers should stand strong and ensure that they get a better
01:52increase and they should, the government through the Ministry of Finance and the
01:59university should move expeditiously to settle this situation. It is
02:04untenable. The students are in the middle of this at the moment and there are
02:10thousands of students. Dr. Gupi Singh also suggests that the university make
02:15efforts to generate income for itself. Where is the university in having the
02:21various departments like engineering and medicine generating their own funding to
02:27be self-sufficient? So, it lacks leadership from there to some extent and
02:31it also lacks leadership from the government through the Ministry of
02:35Finance. Many universities around the world are self-sufficient from
02:40philanthropy and from generating of research funding and from generation of
02:45funds from being consultants at a national level and an
02:52international level. Nicole M Romany, TV6 News.
Comments