News
Lectures go back to online, exams and convocations postponed as strike cripples university system
View(s):- Non academic staff unions stick to their guns; demand rectification of 15% pay cut and 25% increase in MCA; pooh-poohs committee appointed by govt. to study the salary anomaly matter
By Sandun Jayawardana
The strike has forced the postponement of many university examinations and key events such as international conferences. Scheduled university have also been indefinitely postponed. The General Convocation 2023 of the Peradeniya University was to have taken place on May 29 and 30 while the Kelaniya University’s Convocation was due to be held on June 3. Both have now been postponed, with university administrations unable to inform students on when these can be rescheduled.
About 13, 000 non-academic staff work in the state university system and are reportedly engaged in the trade union action
Even if the strike were to be called off soon, it would still take about a month to make the necessary arrangements to hold the convocation, Peradeniya University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Prof. Terrance Madhujith told the Sunday Times. “Since none of us has any idea when the strike might be called off and the non-academic staff would return to work, we have not fixed a new date.”
Peradeniya has a student population of about 15, 000 and the strike has impacted them all. Given that the lecturers are not on strike however, lectures for students are still being held, mostly online. “Only a very limited number of lectures are being conducted physically. The vast majority of the lectures have reverted back to the online method,” noted Prof. Madhujith.
The strike has severely impacted students in many other ways as well. Those who have completed their degrees have been unable to obtain their degree certificates and academic transcripts. Meanwhile, some students looking to go abroad for post-graduate studies are also facing difficulties owing to delays in the verification process of degrees and academic transcripts by the university.
While most hostellers have gone home owing to the strike, some students continue to stay in their university hostels, but are facing many difficulties. These include problems in removing garbage and canteen facilities. “We are trying to provide solutions to their problems as best we can but we obviously can’t resolve everything,” Prof. Madhujith said.
Unions representing university non-academic staff launched the strike last month citing several pressing issues, including the failure by the government to rectify a 15% pay cut imposed on university non-academic staff, and a demand for a 25% increase in their Monthly Compensatory Allowance (MCA).
In a bid to address the issue, Cabinet this week decided to appoint a committee headed by the Treasury Secretary to study the salary anomaly issue of university non-academic staff and salary anomalies in other state sectors. The committee has been tasked with submitting a report in time for the 2025 budget outlining possible solutions to rectify these issues. The Education Ministry accordingly urged the striking employees to return to work. Unions swiftly rejected the appeal and said the strike would continue.
Several committees were appointed previously as well to study the salary anomaly matter on university non-academic staff. In fact, the most recent committee appointed under former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, which included then Ministers such as Gamini Lokuge and Lasantha Alagiyawanna, officials from the Treasury and the University Grants Commission recommended that the 15% pay cut be rectified, said K.L.D.G. Richmond, Joint Secretary of the Inter-University Trade Union Federation. “As such, we don’t believe appointing yet another committee will do anything to resolve the matter. We believe this is simply a delaying tactic.” He also questioned why it took the Cabinet more than 20 days since the start of the strike to even discuss the matter and announce the appointment of a committee.
Unions say the pay cut came about as a result of the Rs. 10, 000 salary increase granted to government employees under the Yahapalana Government. As a percentage, the increase amounted to a 107% salary increment for the state sector. For the state university sector however, this increase amounted to just 92%, thereby creating a 15% difference with the rest of the government sector. The issue was subsequently rectified for lecturers but not for non-academic staff, they point out.
Mr Richmond acknowledged that the strike has caused much inconvenience to students and said unions deeply regretted it. “An indefinite strike was always our last resort. Regrettably, the authorities failed to heed our requests time and again, until we had no choice but to take this step,” he said. He added unions had no objection to the government’s proposal to rectify the salary anomaly issue through next year’s budget but stressed they wanted the government to issue a circular to this effect.
Regarding the increase in the MCA, he claimed that even probationary lecturers received an increase of about Rs. 50, 000 following the increase of the Academic Allowance for lecturers. The government however, did not enact any such increase in the MCA for non-academic staff.
About 13, 000 non-academic staff work in the state university system and are engaged in the trade union action, Mr Richmond claimed. He also insisted that there was no political motive behind the strike action. “Our alliance is part of 14 unions and none of them are aligned to any political party. There are about 23 unions overall representing non-academic staff. Those outside our alliance include unions aligned with the United National Party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, the the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna. All the unions are fully supportive of the strike.”
He acknowledged that the government may dock the pay of non-academic staff who continue to engage in the strike but said they were “prepared to make sacrifices” to win their ultimate demands.
“As a trade union, we agree in principle with their (non-academic staff) right to fight for their salary increments,” Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) President Prof. Barana Jayawardana told the Sunday Times. He said FUTA is supportive of the demand to rectify the salary anomaly issue of non-academic staff. Even for the increase in the MCA, he said FUTA was in agreement but had a problem with attempts by some unions representing non-academic staff to combine the MCA with the Academic Allowance increment for lecturers. “We did not get any net increase in our salaries. The government compensated us for the losses from the new tax scheme it imposed in 2023 by increasing our Academic Allowance. Compared to us, most non-academic staff did not have a reduction in their salaries due to the imposition of the new tax scheme.”
The strike is having a big impact on the smooth functioning of state universities, said Prof. Jayawardana. “We try to reduce its impact on the students by conducting lectures online because we realize that students are losing valuable time from their lives. We (lecturers) are not on strike,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, addressing a press briefing at the Presidential Media Centre on Friday, State Minister of Higher Education Dr. Suren Raghavan said the government will hold discussions with union leaders currently on strike tomorrow (3). He said the strike is causing a direct financial loss of around Rs. 150 million and wasting of 1.8 million man hours.
He noted the government would need Rs. 1.1 billion for the next six months to meet the demands of the trade unions, including a salary increase. “I have requested a report on this matter, and discussions are underway with the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury to find solutions,” he said. The State Minister added that the government hopes to reach a mutually agreeable solution to the matter.
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