PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Finance Minister Colm Imbert Friday said that the government will not allow taxpayers to fund salary increases to lecturers at the St. Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) that would result in more than TT$700 million in backpay to the workers.
Finance Minister Colm Imbert in Parliament on Friday (CMC Photo)“I do not think it is prudent to impose a burden of backpay of TT$701 million on the taxpayers of Trinidad and Tobago. There are means to settling disputes, there are dispute resolution procedures and I would urge all parties to utilise the available dispute resolution procedure,” Imbert told Parliament, noting that the workers were seeking a 24 per cent increase.
Lecturers at the university have embarked on industrial action in support of their union’s demand for increased salaries.
The West Indies Group of University Teachers (WIGUT) said that it understands and empathise deeply with the frustration of the staff, which stemmed from the decade-long delay in resolving salary negotiations.
“The prolonged hardship and uncertainty are exacerbated by the rising cost of living in the post-covid era, which has intensified financial pressures on all categories of staff,” the union said.
The lecturers, who say they are against a two per cent wage hike, Thursday began their two-day industrial action and WIGUT said management had been following up on outstanding proposals diligently and had been encouraged by positive assurances in the national budget and in meetings.
“However, as the teaching term concludes and examinations begin, the lack of concrete responses, or gains have heightened concerns.
“The anguish is deepened because both Cave Hill, Barbados and Mona, Jamaica, which began negotiations long after St Augustine, have concluded negotiations satisfactorily and received generous increases.”
But Imbert told legislators that it is necessary for him to stat what is happening in Trinidad and Tobago because any revenue generated in Jamaica, Barbados and any expenditure in these two countries “are totally and wholly irrelevant to or situation in Trinidad.
“If we were to accept the proposal from WIGUT, the backpay would be TT$701 million as of March 2024. The cost of the four per cent offer which we have offered to everybody else and which is being accepted by most trade unions is estimated a backpay of TT$79 million and TT$12 million in additional recurrent expenditure.”
Imbert said that it is no secret that the university is funded by the state with “hundreds of millions of dollars in subvention”.
He said for the 2018-19 year, the university received subvention of TT$517 million, followed the next fiscal year of TT$520 million and in 2020-21, a total of TT$528 million.
“Therefore any settlement of wages at UWI will place the responsibiity on government and taxpayers to fund this increase,” Imbert said, brushing aside a request by the opposition for the government not to intervene in the matter if the parties concerned have reached an agreement utilising the dispute resolution procedure.
“It is ridiculous for the member opposite to ask taxpayers of this country to fund a settlement of a wage matter which is funded by the taxpayers. The government has to fund. Even this four per cent offer will cost the government TT$79 million.
“It is absurd and I know the former UNC (united National Congress) government did not do that. They did not allow statutory authorities and state enterprises to just give away the shop…without any ministerial intervention,” Imbert said, adding that the current government is following the same guidelines as have existed.
“It is the same committee, it is chaired by corporation sole and it has a number of ministers who look at the impact of wage settlements on the Treasury,” Imbert said,” adding it is a question of affordability.
“You can’t have a state enterprises or statutory authority just lumping TT$700 million in backpay on the taxpayers of this country.”
He told legislators that it was important to put the wage issue into perspective saying over the period August 2011 to July 2014, the then government approved a 10 per cent adjustment in compensation for academic and senior staff at UWI.
He said it was a four per cent salary adjustment followed by an additional six per cent distributed over the period.
“The government has since extended its four per cent offer that has been made to the public service, the protective services for the period 2014-17 and the period 2017-2022,” Imbert said, adding that he has been advised that WIGUT has refused to accept the offer.
He said WIGUT wants from July 2014 an eight per cent increase, 2015 another eight per cent followed by another eight per cent in 2016.
UWI says it remains steadfast in its commitment to communicate with the government to resolve this impasse.
“No principal or employer can rest easy when protests occur. We worry about our students who are the ones most impacted by such action. It disrupts their academic experience, creating anxiety during a critical time.
“We therefore urge all parties to move this process forward productively and swiftly, ensuring a resolution that benefits not only our staff, but also the students who depend on the stability and excellence of The UWI experience. Our goal is to uphold The UWI ‘s mission as a transformative force for TT and the wider region, it added.
UWI principal Prof Rose-Marie Belle Antoine said while she empathised with the plight of staff and acknowledged their protest action, there is little that could be dne.
“For over two years my management has been following up diligently on all outstanding proposals. We have been encouraged by positive assurances in the national budget and in meetings; however, as the teaching term concludes and examinations begin, the lack of concrete responses or gains have heightened concerns,” she added.
