| by Dr Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri
President/FUTA
(October 13, 2012, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) After
one hundred days of continuous strike action during which FUTA was able to
generate a tremendous public debate on education, the FUTA Executive Committee
having met 11th October,2012,
decided to suspend its strike action as of 12th October, 2012 taking into consideration views expressed
by a majority of sister unions.
The government’s response to the 100 day FUTA trade
union action has been in the form of a cabinet note, letter issued by the Secretary to the
Treasury and a joint statement regarding the agreements reached by the two
parties. While noting the proposed policy initiatives suggested by the government in response to the demands made by
FUTA, it is our view that these do not completely address the very serious and
critical issues raised by FUTA during its trade union action.
The FUTA is especially disappointed that the government
has failed to make a specific commitment with regard to the 6% of GDP for
education campaign. After three months of continuous trade union action, during
which FUTA was able to mobilize tremendous support for increasing allocation
for education from among members of the public, trade unions, civil society organizations
and political parties, the government’s response is limited to what has been
stated in the Note to Cabinet presented by Ministers Basil Rajapakse and S.B.
Dissanayake on 12th September 2012. While FUTA notes that the government
has accepted in principle to allocate more funding for education in line with
international benchmarks in the cabinet note, it is disappointing that the
government has failed to specify a road map as to how it plans to increase
allocations for education.
While several initiatives have been suggested with
regard to respecting university autonomy and academic freedom, whether these
suggestions will translate into specific initiatives and bring about a change
of attitude among those who have been responsible for the erosion of university
autonomy and academic freedom remains to be seen. FUTA, while welcoming these
initiatives, will be closely monitoring how meaningfully they develop in the
future.
Further, the government’s response to our demand in
regard to the salaries of academics made in order to address the issue of
recruiting and retaining qualified staff is currently only in the form of an
assurance and is devoid of any specifics or modalities. By letter dated 9th October,
2012, the Secretary to the Treasury has undertaken to address the demand, in
consultation with FUTA,
within the next five years starting with the 2013
budget.
It appears that the government is unwilling at this
juncture to provide specific solutions to the issues we raised, through our
arduous campaign of hundred days. In view of that reality, continuing with the
trade union action was thought futile by a majority of our sister unions, especially
given the immense hardship caused to students. However, the membership remains defiant in its commitment to achieving its demands in
the long term.
We will continue to monitor whether the government
follows up on the assurances that have been made and we retain the right to
take appropriate trade union action if these assurances are not fulfilled. With
regard to the 6% of GDP for Education campaign, the FUTA intends to continue
its campaign collaboratively with other like-minded unions and civil society
organizations, mindful that the campaign is no longer a mere FUTA campaign but
a national campaign which we will continue to lead.
FUTA takes enormous pride in that it was able to
sustain the trade union action for so long despite severe hardship faced by its
membership through our unwavering commitment to a higher cause. We are equally
proud that that we were able to build such a broad platform in support of our campaign.
We stand tall as we were able as a trade union, to go beyond narrow professional
interests and campaign on issues of social importance. The experiences of the
last 100 days have served as a tremendous factor in reawakening the academic
community to be mindful of its social responsibilities. This reawakening will
serve us well in the months ahead of us as we continue to struggle for our
demands.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all
those who supported our campaign in various ways. We express our appreciation
for the role of the all religious dignitaries in attempting to mediate between
FUTA and the government, especially when discussions had come to a halt.
Our gratitude is also due to all the retired
academics, including former Vice-Chancellors who supported our cause and
expressed public support for our campaigns as well as the solidarity shown by
academics around the world. We are especially thankful to our fellow trade
unions, other civil society organisations and conscientious public
representatives who joined our campaign with conviction and determination. To
all the media organisations and media personnel who covered our campaigns, and
who provided us the space to tell our side of the story at a time when our
access to the media was severely constrained too we express our appreciation.
To our students, who stood by us and supported us at such tremendous cost, we
can only say that this fight was for you and for future students. You continue
to inspire us to remain in this profession. We remember with sadness and deep
respect the two students who lost their lives while participating in a protest campaign.
We may have ended our strike, but our campaign to
enhance and protect the public funded education system in this country is far
from over.
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