Colm to WIGUT: Take 4% or leave it… $701M back pay from salary demand unaffordable for taxpayers

Senior Political Reporter

Finance Minister Colm Imbert says WIGUT’s demand for a 24 per cent salary increase, with back pay amounting to $701 million, cannot be met, since it will be a huge burden on taxpayers.

“I do not think it is prudent to impose a burden of $701 million on the taxpayers of T&T,” Imbert said yesterday noting that the four per cent increase for public servants cost $79 million in backpay.

Imbert spoke in Parliament on the standoff between Government and the West Indies Group of University Teachers after Couva South MP Rudy Indarsingh asked about the negotiations.

WIGUT, led by Dr Indira Rampersad, had threatened a “complete shutdown” of the UWI campus yesterday with a “Blackout Friday” protest, pressing the Government to complete negotiations. This was after the union rejected the Government’s two per cent offer for the 2015-2017 period. The union said it was offered 0-0-2 for the period in question and its members are living on 2014 salaries.

On Thursday, Rampersad and WIGUT members confronted UWI principal Prof Rose-Marie Belle Antoine demanding a resolution of the issue. Rampersad promised more protests in 2025, as lecturers intended to withhold students’ examination marks.

During yesterday’s House of Representatives sitting, Indarsingh asked what urgent measures were being used by the Government to avoid a complete shutdown of the UWI St Augustine campus.

Imbert said, “Let me correct what was said: that there would be a total collapse of the St Augustine campus. I don’t think so. I think that was just an alarmist wording from (Indarsingh).”

Imbert added, “It’s necessary to put some historical facts into perspective. Over the period from August 2011 to July 2014, the then ministerial committee under the previous administration approved a ten per cent adjustment in compensation for academic and senior staff at UWI represented by WIGUT.

“It was a four per cent salary adjustment followed by an additional six per cent, distributed as follows: from 2011 (a one per cent increase on top of the four per cent), from 2012 July (another one per cent on top of the original four percent) and from 2013 (a further four per cent on top of the original four per cent) totalling ten per cent between 2011 and 2014.”

Imbert said Government had since extended to WIGUT its four per cent offer that has been made to the public services and was accepted by several associations representing the protective services for the periods 2014-2017 and 2017-2020.

He added, “I’m advised that WIGUT refused to consider the last period 2017-2020 and has not accepted the offer for the period 2014-2017.”

Imbert explained that WIGUT is requesting salary increases of eight per cent from July 2014, another eight per cent from July 2015, and an additional eight per cent from 2016—totalling a 24 per cent increase for the period 2014–2017.

Imbert added, “The recurrent cost of the proposal from WIGUT is estimated at an additional $78m per annum for UWI, St Augustine campus.

“If we were to accept the proposal from WIGUT, the back pay would be $701m as at March 2024.

“The cost of the four per cent offer which we’ve offered to everybody else and which is being accepted by most trade unions is estimated at a back pay of $79m and $12m in additional recurrent expenditure.”

Imbert explained that UWI is funded by the State with hundreds of millions of dollars in subventions.

“For 2018-2019 year, Government’s subvention was $517m. For the 2019-2020 year $520m, for 2020- 2021 it was $528m. Therefore any settlement of wages at UWI will place the responsibility on the Government and the taxpayers to fund this increase.

“I do not think it is prudent to impose a burden of back pay of $701m on the taxpayers of T&T. There are means for settling dispute. There are dispute resolution procedures and I’d urge all parties to utilise the available dispute resolution institutions.”

He stressed the matter was not about government interference but affordability.

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