U.B.F.S.U. Meets with University’s Finance Subcommittee
As the crisis at the University of Belize continues to fester, the executive of the University of Belize Faculty and Staff Union met at length with the president and management of the tertiary institution to discuss U.B.’s financial records amid looming pay cuts. The U.B.F.S.U. which is not formally recognized as the sole bargaining agent for the faculty and staff is at odds with the university’s management and contends that it is not being included in the negotiation process to determine pending salary reduction. Late this evening, News Five spoke with U.B.F.S.U. President Doctor Pio Saqui, who says that, while progress is being made, there is still no good news coming forward from the lengthy discussions today.
Pio Saqui
Dr. Pio Saqui, President, U.B.F.S.U.
“I wish that we could have better news, however, we don‘t think that we have been a total failure today. To be honest, I think we have made some progress. The University of Belize‘s Board of Trustees has reached out and invited us to a meeting today at two p.m. to meet with the financial subcommittee of the board itself. Unfortunately, we feel that the odds were stacked against us because we were asked to make recommendations at that board meeting when none of the information that we had requested was furnished to us. Additionally, at that meeting there was some conversation on the status of the University of Belize‘s Faculty and Staff Union and its recognition as the bargaining agent for the University of Belize‘s faculty and staff. This has been the main sticking point because although we think that we can agree that the board has recognized that what they are asking for is something reasonable, they feel that we don‘t have the bargaining power to request these things and this has put us in a very bad position because this is not any of our doing. We have followed every single process that‘s possible and really what is challenging here is the delinquency, for a lack of better terminology, of the tripartite body.”
