WIGUT plans week-long shut down of St Augustine campus

WEST Indies Group of University Teachers (WIGUT) members, led by president Dr Indira Rampersad, marched through the UWI’s St Augustine campus as part of their protest over an ongoing salary dispute on January 20, the first teaching day for 2025.

Members marched from the UWI Learning Resource Centre (LRC) to the office of UWI principal Prof Rose-Marie Belle Antoine where they demanded that she come out and speak to them. When she did, Rampersad questioned her about the status of salary negotiations between UWI management and the government.

Antoine said she was in contact with the finance and education ministers and was awaiting a response on the status of the negotiations. “We are at the mercy of the Finance Minister and by extension, the government. Because the campus management, as you know, cannot give you an increase…It’s not because of bad management or anything like that.

“…Honestly I am now at my wits end. I don’t know what else campus management can do. I have a good team with me. We’ve all worked very hard and we’ve all tried to maintain the balance. As I said, we don’t want our students to suffer unnecessarily…”

She said concerns went beyond teacher’s salaries as a lack of funding affected the long-term functioning of the university. Antoine said there were not adequate funds to sustain the campus long-term and such financial issues affected the campus’s infrastructure and employee retention. “People are leaving, because there are greener pastures.

“We have not been able to attract a librarian, we’ve had three people turn down the offer when they see the salary and we’ve now had to be employ persons without PhDs in other areas.”

She expressed concerns about UWI’s performance saying the award-winning work and research initiatives carried out by the university could not be sustained under the current financial conditions.

“If we cannot pay a reasonable salary then we cannot attract the calibre of persons that make this a great institution.”

But Antoine said campus management was doing all it could to address the situation.

“Don’t think we are just twiddling our thumbs, we are in active discussion but we have to give them opportunities to consider what we say. So it’s not a question of not having plans, the ball is really in the court in the government at this point.”

Antoine said she remained optimistic that the situation could be resolved.

“I’m encouraged that there is some communication and hopefully very soon we can get something concrete because I don’t want to be going back to ground zero…I trust in the goodwill of all those concerned.

WIGUT: Protests will continue

In addition to the march, WIGUT intends to continue protest action throughout the semester. A letter sent to Newsday by Rampersad outlined a three-week protest plan.

The letter encouraged members to shut down all system operations and continue withholding grades. It said members will engage in Whitewash Week from January 27-31.

“This is a week of rest and reflection. During the entire day, you should not answer your desk phones nor e-mails.”

The letter also said February 3-7 will be blackout week.

“We expect a complete blackout this week. There should be a complete shut down of all system operations, faculties, departments, principal’s/deputy principal’s office; bursary, registry, student services, library, CITS (Campus Information Technology Services), CLL (Centre for Language Learning), SLDD (Student Life and Development Department), SALISES (Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies), IDGS (Institute for Gender and Development Studies), IIR (Institute of International Relations), rocoa research, field station, projects office, administration, labs, book store and all others.”

Speaking to media during the march, Rampersad said there were also plans to withhold the submission of examination question papers.

“Examination papers are due for some faculties. Medical sciences and engineering are due in February, and late March and April for other faculties. And if this is not settled, then we can see a withholding of examination question papers so there may be no exams for this semester.”

Student Reactions

Students on campus wished to remain anonymous when they spoke to Newsday on January 20 but still expressed their views on the situation.

One computer science student who was at the LRC when WIGUT members were gathering said, “It have a lot of them that not doing their job properly, but that’s probably part of the reason why, because they not getting paid enough. It hard to fulfil your role at a satisfactory level when you not getting paid how much you want.

“But that don’t mean you get to mess up other people’s lives. Because we’re paying our money, and I can’t even apply for GATE right now because I don’t have some of my grades. And it’s not that I failed the classes, I just didn’t get my grade.”

“We are strategic collateral damage,” said another computer science student.

“That’s what’s going on. It’s not our fault and we can’t do anything about it, but we have to suffer. In the long run, the school has to do something for the sake of us.”

A 23-year-old medical student said “It’s unfair to the person who paid their money in advance, went to their classes and submitted their assignments. They need their grades for GATE and other things like deciding what courses to pursue going forward. I guess the staff have a right to protest as well but I think there are other methods.”

One criminology student also shared her views.

“They should not withhold the grades from the students because of issues they’re having with the government. The students are paying to be here. GATE offers funding and there are people who get 75 per cent funding, like myself. I still have to pay $1,500, so why are my grades being withheld if I’m coming to school and doing what I have to do?”

“I understand their plight, because if you’re on a 2014 salary in 2025 we know that’s a lot of strain on their pocket. Everybody has families to feed, but at the same time, they can’t put us who are paying our money, at risk.”

Another computer science student in her third year also gave her perspective.

“I think it’s a problem, but you also have to think about what ways of collective action they have access to. Because I was thinking about what their options look like, and I guess this is the only thing that they can get their point across.

“Hopefully this amount of collective pressure will cause the government to be like ‘Oh this is a problem, we need to fix this.’

“Because you can’t have a school without students getting grades and access to services.”

 

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