Statement of the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations on the Suspension of the Trade Union Action
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| Sri Lankan university teachers march holding placards during a protest in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, June 21, 2011. Hundreds of university teachers marched on streets in Sri Lanka's capital to demand a pay increase. (AP Photo/ Eranga Jayawardena |
(September 02, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The Executive Committee of the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) which met on 21st July 2011 decided to suspend the trade union action which commenced on 15th March 2011 with a one day token strike, and followed by resignations from voluntary posts on 9th May, 2011 to call for a dignified wage for academics working in the public university system in the country which would in turn help preserve the public university system in Sri Lanka.
The main reason for the suspension was the inconvenience that it caused to the students by the prolonged disruption to their academic programmes although FUTA by no means feels that the authorities have gone far enough to address our legitimate grievances We regret that the period of the trade union action was unusually prolonged due to the negative and nonchalant responses of the relevant authorities which, unlike on previous occasions, did not view the demands of academics as an urgent national matter that required immediate attention and resolution. However, the suspension is just that and we are committed to resuming the struggle if the authorities do not take steps to address our balance demands through negotiations in the coming months. We also remain committed to mobilizing our membership to work for our other demands such as adequate investment in the education and higher education sectors and the protection of academic freedom and university autonomy so vital to the preservation and upgrading of our university system.
Even after two weeks since the suspension of our trade union action, the resumption of normal academic activities at the universities had been seriously hampered and unnecessarily complicated by the refusal of many Vice-Chancellors to issue new letters of appointment to those academics who previously resigned from voluntary positions due to the trade union action. This refusal was entirely due to a decision taken at the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Directors (CVCD) that those academics cannot be re-appointed to the voluntary positions from which they resigned and that if they wished to continue they will have to resume duties in their since resigned positions! We consider this decision a gross violation of the right of academics to resign their voluntary positions as and when they wish which is guaranteed under the Universities Act of 1978 and, moreover, goes against a Supreme Court decision that has unequivocally recognized this right as a constitutionally protected right. FUTA unreservedly rejects the position of the CVCD and wishes to once again draw the attention of the CVCD to the said Supreme Court judgment which has already received much publicity.
In light of this arbitrary decision on the part of the CVCD, FUTA would like to remind members of the CVCD that theirs is only an ad hoc body without any statutory standing or authority and that, per the Universities Act, it does not possess the authority to take decisions or make directives that legally bind institutions of higher education. We would also like to express our displeasure at their deafening silence while the trade union action was ongoing and their failure to play a constructive role as a body to resolve the dispute. This silence is all the more incomprehensible as well as disturbing considering the alacrity with which they rushed to endorse a particular presidential candidate during the most recent Presidential Election and their statements in support of the controversial 18th Amendment to the Constitution of 1978. It is also remarkable that the CVCD found the time to issue a lengthy statement condemning the UN Panel Report during the height of our trade union action while having nothing to say publicly about an unnecessarily delayed response on the part of the government that brought the public universities in Sri Lanka to a virtual standstill for a lengthy period of time. Such academic sycophancy not only shames the individuals concerned but brings the entire academic community in Sri Lanka to disrepute in the eyes of the general public that look up to the academics for leadership in matters of public interest. It is a matter of regret that barring a couple of Vice Chancellors who have acted with courage and dignity against great odds and whose conduct has been both inspirational and exemplary, the other Vice Chancellors and Directors have completely forgotten that they are first and foremost members of the academic staff of universities and only temporarily appointed to serve in these exalted positions. By failing to perform their bounden duty, both morally and legally, to safeguard academic interests and freedoms, they have wittingly or unwittingly joined hands with forces interested in undermining, if not eliminating, one of our greatest post-independence legacies, i.e., public higher education. We take this opportunity to pay tribute to those Vice Chancellors who maintained their integrity and fought single-handedly at times to safeguard the principles enshrined in the Universities Act.
After much thought and deliberation on the current situation in universities, FUTA has taken the difficult decision to call on its sister unions in all universities to request those academics who previously held voluntary positions to assume duties without any prejudice to the principle of the right to resign freely referred to above provided that the respective university authorities take the responsibility for the period of the trade union action. We wish to emphasize the fact that if in the future any authority attempts to take a course of action contrary to the principle safeguarded in the Act of their right to resign from voluntary positions without advance notice, FUTA is committed to protest such violations through trade union action and eventually legal action through courts of law.
"The decision to end the union action has not been unanimous. There was a sense of betrayal among some sections of the membership. This was mainly because of the insignificant nature of the amount achieved compared to the demands made by the academic community, especially the non removal of the conditions attached to the R & D allowance."
Some vice chancellors and university authorities are acting in violation of the civilised convention related to trade union action by resorting to harassment and victimization of individual activists, refraining from reappointing certain university teachers who resigned from their voluntary positions. We wish to emphasise that hat all university teachers who have resigned from their voluntary positions as part of the trade union action should be immediately reappointed to the posts they previously held. Harassment and victimization of individual activists should be stopped forthwith. Otherwise, FUTA would not hesitate to take trade union action against such violations.
Background
FUTA launched this trade union action over three major demands, namely:
Immediate implementation of the salary proposals of the Jiffry-Malik Ranasinghe Committee which was submitted to the salaries and cadre commission by the University Grant Commission in 2008,
Recognition of University Academics as a special category of professionals, and Allocation of 6% of the GDP for education from the Budget. It took about one month for the authorities to listen to our demands. The FUTA negotiators had many meetings with authorities in official and unofficial capacity.
First official meeting was with the President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 25-05-2011. He directed the treasury and the ministry official to open the dialogue with FUTA. Many meetings followed between 01-06-2011 and 12-07-2011 and the FUTA came up with an interim proposal which was submitted to the Ministry of Higher Education. This long delay in solving the issues brought the university system in to a standstill without Heads of Departments. Finally the President had a crucial meeting with FUTA on 13-07-2011.
In addition to these main demands a number of other demands related to the working conditions of academics, restoration of several previously enjoyed benefits, and issues related to higher education were put forward during negotiations It however needs to be noted that the ‘allocation of 6% of the GDP for education from the Budget’ and the recognition of University Academics as a special category did not receive serious attention of the government officials during the negotiation process although these issues were major platforms of the public campaign conducted by FUTA.
Although the President had offered a salary cap of Rs 115,000 for a Senior Professor, the highest level of the salary scale of academics, the salary structure proposed by the treasury included a 25% conditional R&D allowance which could be paid only through application FUTA has been firm from the beginning, as clearly stipulated in the FUTA interim proposal submitted to the Ministry of Higher Education on 07/07/2011, that all allowances paid in order to resolve our principal demand for an increase in salaries should be paid without any conditions. In this light, we are not in a position to consider this 25% R&D allowance as part of a salary package which in effect places the salary cap for a senior professor in the system at Rs. 101,000 and NOT Rs. 115,000 as promised by the President. This falls far short of the original FUTA interim demand of Rs. 132,000 before the Budget.
Out of a total of about 4,500 academics, there are only about 40 Senior Professors in the entire university system, a percentage of just 1% (of all the academics). Hence contrary to popular belief, only a handful of academics will receive even the Rs. 101,000. Having a salary cap of Rs. 101,000 for a Senior Professor translates proportionately to only a meager Rs. 68000 for a senior lecturer and Rs. 44000 for a Lecturer Probationary at recruitment. FUTA feels strongly that this is grossly inadequate to effectively address the issues of recruitment and retention of quality academics in the university system. In effect, the interim salary scheme offered by the government will not effectively curtail the brain-drain, which the FUTA aims to prevent for the purpose of upgrading public higher education in Sri Lanka and ensuring the retention of internationally competitive and comparable academics in the system.
Demands Won
Furthermore, out of the demands put forward in the interim proposal submitted by the FUTA, only three demands have been met, and these also only partially. The following key demands had received no consideration by the Government during its negotiations with the FUTA:
Recognition of University Academics as a special category of professionals
Signing an agreement delineating the implementation of the full proposal that includes the demand to increase spending on education at least up to 6% of the GDP
Payment of the allowances agreed to during negotiations with no conditions attached
Removal of UGC Circular 955 which annuls an earlier agreement with FUTA to calculate the Academic Allowance for EPF. UPF, ETF contributions and Gratuity
Representation FUTA at all education and higher education related reform processes
The FUTA membership is of the strong opinion that these demands are vital to a lasting solution to the problems faced by university academics and the public higher education system in the country.
However, the government agreed to the following demands by the FUTA: Revision of the rates of payments for various services performed by university academics including examinations on the basis of the proposal presented by the FUTA
Withdrawal of the UGC Circular No. 956 which stipulated that the heads of departments should give three months of prior notice before resignation from their posts.
The decision to end the union action has not been unanimous. There was a sense of betrayal among some sections of the membership. This was mainly because of the insignificant nature of the amount achieved compared to the demands made by the academic community, especially the non removal of the conditions attached to the R & D allowance. Many members expressed the view that suspension of the trade union action was not justifiable as the collective strength of membership had the potential to achieve this demand. However, while agreeing with the argument that the immediate achievements are not adequate, the majority supported the proposal to suspend the trade union action, on the grounds that it was adversely affecting the students, and with the firm commitment to continue the negotiations to win all the demands.
It is the general view of the membership that the trade union action that has only been suspended will be reactivated unless the government fulfils its promises within a reasonable time frame and implement the long term proposal as stipulated by the document submitted to Ministry by FUTA.FUTA wishes to condemn various acts of intimidation by university authorities and foul comments on university academics made by such representatives of the government such as the Minister of Higher Education, Minister of Education, Chairmen of University Grant Commission and the Commissioner of Examinations. These comments in no way helped the negotiating parties to reach a speedy and satisfactory resolution to the crisis and only served to increase the dissatisfaction among the academics about their commitment to the public university system in Sri Lanka.
Intangible Victories
Apart from these direct outcomes, university academics achieved major victories as a result of this trade union action. University academics emerged during this campaign as a powerful force which is capable of standing firm and united for their rights amidst many challenges and intimidations. FUTA was able to mobilize the entire academic community on an unprecedented scale as a result of this action which sends a strong message to the government that the Lankan academia should not be treated lightly. The public discussion that emerged in the few months on burning issues of university education in Sri Lanka was extremely fruitful in alerting not just the public but the academics themselves about what was at stake. This discussion has the potential of growing further.
The government tried to suppress the union action through acts such as: discrediting the image of the university teachers through vilification, disinformation, manipulation, threat, harassment and victimization of individual activists, creation of divisions by using unscrupulous individuals loyal to the regime and media blackouts especially in the electronic media. Our members faced these intimidations resolutely and the strength of union action grew day by day till the last day of the current phase of the TUA that has just ended.
When the university teachers’ community was vilified by the regime, the academics rallied round FUTA and vehemently defended their dignity in public. Thousands of its members went on marches and attended public rallies all around the country to show their solidarity, and explain to the people of the country the truth behind the trade union action of FUTA.
To undermine the trade union action, cases were filed in court with the intention of compelling the academics to give up their trade union action. This was done even when there was a 1999 Supreme Court decision that upholds the right of university lecturers to resign from their voluntary positions without prior notice. FUTA was assisted by the law faculties of Open University and Peradeniya University in facing these challenges in the court.
The government had the advantage of the media, especially electronic media. Among the print media, FUTA trade union action received critical support from the beginning, displaying basic tenets of good journalism, which hold out the hope for the right of free expression within Sri Lanka. Some print media were slow to give up their slanted coverage of the issue favouring the government but did attain balanced coverage towards the latter part of the trade union action. Academics were dismayed by the manner in which the electronic media blacked out the coverage of our highly successful marches and public rallies in Kandy, Matara, Colombo, Anuradhapura and Jaffna, where thousands of FUTA members and the public participated. It does not bode well for media freedom in the country, something that media persons working for those organizations must now take up.
We must emphasise that this trade union action has brought out qualities among academics such as resourcefulness, willingness to commit themselves for the good of the community and society, which give hope for the resurgence of collective interventions FUTA has been immensely successful in sustaining the trade union action. FUTA will learn and improve from this experience and will take this momentum forward towards upliftment of the right to public higher education of the masses in the country who will not be able pay the fees of private degree-granting institutions that are now beginning to come in.
Our Sincere Thanks
Finally, FUTA wishes to thank all those who supported it in many ways.
We particularly wish to thank many trade unions and political parties that supported us, university students who actively expressed their solidarity with our union action and those who patiently tolerated the disruption to their academic activities as a result of this trade union action.
We also wish to thank all members of our sister unions spread across the entire public sector university system in the country especially the members who resigned from the volunteer posts they held without any hesitation, senior academics who came forward to address our rallies,
the university teachers of the universities in the Northern and the Eastern Provinces, especially those at Jaffna University, who have been with us throughout the trade union action while recovering from a 30-year old war and the very real issues of security that that raises to any kind of public protest action.
We also thank the media, the public, non-academic employees belonging to both staff and other ranks, those who were supportive of FUTA within the administration. In doing so, they also highlighted their respect for the university teachers and their recognition of university academics as vital stakeholder in the advancement of public sector higher education and therefore the common good of the country.
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