About 22 academic and non academic staff of the University of Guyana. Wednesday afternoon marched around campus to demand restructuring of the Council and higher salaries and other benefits.

The resumption of the protest follows the non-participation of the required number of Councillors at Monday's planned start of negotiations for emoluments and other benefits.  The unions have submitted a Memorandum of Demands aimed at eventually putting their salaries on par with universities in the rest of the Caribbean. 

Their chants included calls for all government council members and Chancellor Professor Compton Bourne to go. The government council members are Gail Teixeira, Nirmal Rekha, Bibi Shaddick and Prem Misir. 

"The council is rude and incapable of running our affairs," Chairman of the UG Senior Staff Association (UGSSA) Dr Patsy Francis told workers after the march.

UGSSA Vice Chairman, Dr Melissa Ifill said workers are demanding that the Trinidad-based Bourne resign because he has refused to engage them, even refusing to acknowledge their correspondence. 

"The chancellor has not responded to our appeals, our attempts to engage him," she said. "We feel that his leadership has been weak and as a consequence we don't have confidence in him," she added.

"Who Must Go? The Council Must Go Now" "Pay The Workers Now, "Sign the World Bank Loan Now," and "Pay we more Money now" were some of the chants. Political Scientist, Freddie Kissioon, whose contract was scrapped and not offered re-employment, was among those participating in the protest.

The UGSSA and UG Workers Union (UGWU) had back in February called off a planned three-day strike after the Ministry of Labour intervened and a terms of resumption was signed.

However, Ifill said almost all of the Terms of Resumption have been breached so far, again boiling over into the recommencement of industrial unrest. She noted that the unions had submitted their Memorandum of Demands but, contrary to the Terms of Resumption agreement, no meeting had been held after more than one month had passed.

“We still allowed that to slide but even when the date for the first negotiating meeting was called , the Council members did not turn up and we felt that that was extremely disrespectful. We believe that it is not taking the issue of the workers seriously and we certainly had to take a stand, we cannot let this situation continue,” she said

One of the terms was within one month of submitting the Memorandum of Demands and one month has past.

The protest march was originally scheduled for 2 PM to coincide with a Council meeting. That event was subsequently postponed and so the protest march was brought forward to midday.

Ifill attributed the poor response to the protest to late notice to workers. The unions plan to picket the office of the Pro-Chancellor, Prem Misir later this week.