U.B.F.S.U. Concerned About Lack of Consultations as School Reopens
Pio Saqui
On Friday we told you about the University of Belize Faculty and Staff Union’s attempt to kick start negotiations with the UB’s Board of Trustees and President. The Union feels that they are not being welcomed to the table as the UB charts its way forward in light of a shortfall of seven million dollars in revenue. This morning, the Union sent out a release outlining a number of concerns about teaching assignments and workloads that are yet to be settled, as well as the lack of infrastructure to facilitate the move to online classes. The U.B.F.S.U. has thereby taken a position that this semester should start on September seventh in line with other universities offering online classes and a thirteen week semester of fully-online delivery instated. But U.B. sent out a release this afternoon to say that August seventeenth remains as the date for the reopening of classes and that registration has commenced. President of the U.B.F.S.U., Doctor Pio Saqui says there is union busting.
Dr. Pio Saqui, President, UB Faculty & Staff Union
“One of our members just informed us that she is being told that her terms of employment at the university is being terminated and she is being given the option either to take the voluntary separation or go to redundancy. And they are forcing her to do the voluntary separation – so it doesn’t look so bad, right? The ex-gratia looks ok and you get a little bit more and all of that stuff. But the issue is that this woman who has been working there for fourteen and a half years. So, she is only six months shy of qualifying for pension and pension benefits. So, for the foreseeable future this young woman would have lost her ability to get pension. The other that goes to that in terms of union busting is that they are targeting people who are on contract. About two or three years ago the President changed the employment scheme for the UB. The faculty and staff handbook has us as permanent, temporary or full-time. Your permanence is determined based on your performance and all that stuff after so many years and you go up the ladder. About two or three years ago the idea of contracts was introduced; now contracts have a fixed date when they end. Now, here is the problem. The University of Belize has programmes that are approved, academic programmes that are approved and within the approval of these things specific posts are established substantively; meaning that without those posts, the programme cannot work. The quality will not be there – that is why you hire these people permanently so you appoint them to these permanent posts and if they don’t perform you get rid of them and there is a mechanism for that. What has happened since then now is that these people have been hired against these substantive posts on contract which makes it easier for the President to say your contract is up; we will not renew it and we are not obligated to do so. Yeah, they can do so but this goes to the heart of what you just said, union busting.”
