NO HOPE OF EARLY REOPENING AS GOVERNMENT AND UWTU HIT DEADLOCK Silvester Ayuba James (Chanco Storm) Any perceived hopes of Chancos early reopening have sneaked into oblivion following governments failure to strike a compromise with the striking University Workers Trade Union membership on Wednesday. According to one of the unionists who anonymously spoke to Storm this morning, government offered a 6% salary increment while staying silent on the second requirement of the demand: harmonisation of conditions of service. Salary increment aside, the support staff are demanding equal conditions of service with workers from the other three public universities- Mzuni, Luanar and Must- as well as equal conditions with academic staff in the event of similar qualifications and grades. Further, they also demand a paradigm shift from the current three- face classification regime in which college staff are identified as Academic Staff, Administration Staff, and Support Staff- each with a distinct salary structure irrespective of their similar qualifications- to a new era where all college staff will be identified as Academic and Non-academic which will effectively squeeze all the currently called support staff into the same bracket with administration staff as Non-academic staff and wrap them into the same salary pack based on qualification and grade. Why, for example, should an administration staff member with a Bachelors receive a higher salary and enjoy generally better conditions than those of a member of the so-called support staff who also have a Bachelors as well?, queried a support staff member who also wondered the reasoning behind paying UNIMA support staff lower salaries than those of the other three colleges when all work at public universities. But despite the workers laying forth all their demands, government only attempted to address the salary concern, which the workers say comes within a broader issue of harmonisation, by throwing a 6% increment onto the menu. The Union, however, turned it down, describing it as ridiculous and childish. We cannot take such an insult and mockery from them. Everyone knows they have the money, but they are just selfish, he said. The discussions, which took place at Capital Hills Ministry of Education offices, later veered into the realm of emotions and frustrations when government indicated that it was not ready to accommodate the workers demands wholesale, neither could it drag its foot off the 6% mark, a situation that forced the union representatives to author a statement of their stand to be presented to the University Council, which was yet to be read out to the members by the time this reporter left the striking workers gathering this morning. The contents of the letter, thus, still remain in the mist, and the delay to read and present it has been prolonged by the fact that a member of the negotiating team from Chanco, Mr Franklin Kapeni, was involved in a car accident in Balaka this morning, in which it is reported he hit to death a pedestrian boy as he traveled from Lilongwe this morning. Among others, UNIMA Support Staff include Library workers, Secretaries, Medical workers, Accounts personnel, Registry workers, Maintenance workers and Messengers, whose recent downing of tools and withdrawal of services paralysed Chancos academic and administrative life, leading to the closure of the college. Meanwhile, it is also feared lecturers will wage their own industrial war with UNIMA Council (and government), pressing for the adoption of their proposed 45% salary increment should the latter fail to meet the formers ultimatum which was allegedly sent last week. If the status quo remains as it appears on the surface, Chancos future will continue to hang in the balance as students continue to hopelessly rest, roost, and rust at home following the colleges indefinite temporary closure last Friday.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 14:29:41 +0000
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