By Fareeza Haniff
[www.inewsguyana.com] – Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon is advising the striking academic staff of the University of Guyana to be a “bit more observant” of the rules governing industrial relations.
At his post cabinet media briefing at the Office of the President on Wednesday, February 18, Dr Luncheon explained that Industrial Relations is a course which the academic staff have taught as he pointed out the irony of them ignoring the tenets.
He reiterated that the Ministry of Labour remains committed to intervene in the strike action at the request of the parties but under proper procedures.
“Cabinet insisted that there has to be some sort of resolution specifically to bring parties back to the negotiating table,” Dr Luncheon said.
He opined that the affected students have “every cause” to be aligned with forces that want an early resolution to the issue.
Talks have come to a standstill between the University of Guyana (UG) administration and the two unions – University of Guyana Workers Union (UGWU) and the University of Guyana Senior Staff Association (UGSSA), resulting in the strike action by the unions.
The UG workers have been on strike for close to four weeks in an effort to get the administration to agree to a 60% across the board salary increase.
Labour Minister, Dr Nanda Gopaul recently told iNews that as far as industrial discourse goes, proper procedure has not been followed in the strike action.
“The strike was called in the midst of discussions with the Ministry’s administration and the steps haven’t been exhausted. So the talks have not ended at that level,” said Dr Gopaul.
