OWTU\/UTT Branch Tells Cudjoe \u2018Take Yuh Books and Go\u2019 Amid Wage Dispute<\/p>\n
The Oilfields Workers\u2019 Trade Union\u2019s University of Trinidad and Tobago branch has launched a sharp attack on UTT Executive Chairman Professor Selwyn Cudjoe, calling on him to \u201ctake yuh books and go\u201d as tensions deepen over longstanding wage negotiations at the university.<\/p>\n
In a bulletin issued on August 21, the OWTU\/UTT Branch said workers have endured years of stagnant salaries while negotiations remain unresolved, and accused successive UTT management teams, boards, government ministers and the Chief Personnel Officer of failing to adequately address their situation.<\/p>\n
The union\u2019s response followed comments by Cudjoe that there simply was not enough money available to satisfy outstanding wage settlements.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Guardian, Cudjoe said UTT inherited a $24 million deficit and argued that the Government has limited financial resources available to meet demands across the public sector. He suggested a settlement could potentially involve a combination of cash and bonds and expressed confidence that an amicable arrangement could eventually be reached.<\/p>\n
However, the OWTU\/UTT Branch rejected the financial argument as justification for workers continuing to wait.<\/p>\n
According to the branch, some UTT employees are still working with salaries dating back to 2007. It claimed that while some workers earn approximately $4,000 per month, Cudjoe receives more than $100,000 monthly as Executive Chairman. These salary figures are allegations contained in the union’s bulletin and have not been independently verified in the document. The union also claimed previous chairmen received stipends of less than $8,000 monthly.<\/p>\n
The branch argued that employees should not be made to carry the consequences of UTT\u2019s financial difficulties, saying workers were not responsible for the decisions that contributed to the university’s current financial position.<\/p>\n
The bulletin also revisited the controversial retrenchment of more than 200 workers in 2019, describing those employees as victims of an \u201cillegal retrenchment.\u201d It further alleged that since 2013, UTT management has failed to properly engage the union in bilateral negotiations.<\/p>\n
According to the OWTU\/UTT Branch, UTT previously proposed increases of zero per cent for each year between 2014 and 2016, followed by zero, zero and two per cent over the subsequent negotiating period. The union said those proposals were rejected and alleged they were presented around court dates in an attempt to give the appearance that progress was being made on the outstanding negotiations.<\/p>\n
The union also took issue with Cudjoe’s involvement in a recent Emancipation event, accusing him of selling his personal books while some UTT employees were struggling to afford schoolbooks for their children.<\/p>\n
UTT’s own website confirms that the university recently promoted Emancipation-related programming involving Cudjoe, while its online video archive also lists events involving his publications. However, the union’s criticism represents its own characterization of those activities.<\/p>\n
The branch is now demanding that negotiations take place directly with the union rather than through public statements.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not negotiate in the media,\u201d the union told Cudjoe, urging UTT to return to the negotiating table in good faith and bring employees’ salaries in line with present-day economic realities.<\/p>\n
It also called on the Ministry of Tertiary Education and Skills Training to become involved, describing the ministry’s silence on the situation as \u201cdeafening.\u201d<\/p>\n
The confrontation comes against a wider backdrop of pressure from organised labour over outstanding wage negotiations. Cudjoe’s comments were made as public-sector unions continued pressing the Government over wage settlements, with several unions demanding movement on outstanding negotiations.<\/p>\n
For the UTT branch, however, the dispute is centred on workers who it says have waited far too long for their salaries to be brought up to date.<\/p>\n
The bulletin concluded with a direct message to the Executive Chairman: workers deserve \u201ca better day with better pay,\u201d and if the outstanding negotiations cannot be settled, the union says Cudjoe should \u201ctake yuh books and go.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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