U.B.F.S.U. Says Still No Negotiations at U.B.

Christopher Deshield

The University of Belize Faculty and Staff Union is reporting tonight that their attempt to negotiations with the Board of Trustees and President of the UB has stalled.  The union says that only today they received a letter of response to their request for negotiations to begin for their members. They also just recently received the financial records they were clamoring for in order to get the discussions going on a way forward for the university, but they haven’t been granted an audience with those at the table. They are simply being asked for recommendations. Today, we spoke with Doctor Christopher DeShield of the U.B.F.S.U. about where the matter stands.

Dr. Christopher Deshield, General Secretary, UB Faculty and Staff Union

“We are at the stage where after receiving the final packets of some financial data that we had been requesting for a while in order to satisfy some procedures in the faculty and staff handbook. We had a consultant/auditor look at those and provide a report. And the intention was that we would then use that information to enter into negotiations into some of the mitigating measures that the recommendations the President would be taking to the Board. Because we feel that the faculty and staff, as is obvious, would have crucial in put to provide here on these measures in order to ensure the quality and service at UB; ensure that the mission and vision are upheld. And so, for all of these things we have this input to provide and this input would require negotiation and one of the reasons is because the measures that are presented there you can’t be looking at them in isolation. They really work in concert, in tandem. So, when you touch one you have to think about the impacts elsewhere and vice versa. So, we just received a letter in response to this request for negotiation from the President, but, unfortunately and to our dismay, it sounds like they are not interested in negotiations at this point. And what the President is asking for is mere recommendations that we would end over without the opportunity to negotiate over them which we feel is crucial, obviously. So, that is really the stage we are at right now.”