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Oh dear! These FUTA Academics

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10 March 2017 12:58 am - 1     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

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On Monday March 6, (2017) the Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA) announced a two-day strike action on the eighth and ninth of March, at a media briefing in Colombo. 

As its President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri said in answer to a question from a journalist, no strike action can be taken without disrupting the normal working of an organisation or institute. He is perfect with that answer though not in the haughty language and tone used. There is no purpose in resorting to strike action by a trade union, if the normal work cannot be adequately disturbed to force the authorities to take note of the demands put forward.
But, here is the difference. In well disciplined working class movements, strike action is resorted to as the only available last step. Responsible trade union leaderships decide on strike action after all other efforts in securing negotiated answers to demands that are tabled, fail to achieve reasonable solutions. It clearly means, writing a letter or two to the authorities and sitting at a meeting that generates correspondence with other line authorities, in no way justifies a 02 day strike. Even after strenuous efforts to negotiate demands fail, responsible trade union leaderships go through a long process of making their demands forceful by mobilising the membership through lunch time pickets, leafleting, protest marches, public rallies, ‘work to rule’, half a day token strikes and also at times a day’s token strike. Often after all those campaigning for demands, strike action is publicly announced giving a reasonable deadline for negotiations. It would be wise for these FUTA academics to consult the private sector workers’ trade union leadership in the Free Trade Zones & General Services Employees’ Union to learn how patiently and carefully they use strike action as a tool in negotiating their demands.


Sadly, the FUTA leadership has not been that responsible in deciding on this 02 day strike action. On documents available, FUTA leadership had first raised their issue of salary anomalies, allowances and car permits around early September 2016. The first letter addressing FUTA concerns sent out by the UGC chairman to the Secretary Ministry of Higher Education and DG, Management Services Dept.(MSD) was on 06 September last year.

Thereafter, these issues had been conveyed to the Salaries and Cadres Commission and an explanation received by the DG, MSD by 28 November had been forwarded to the Secretary, Ministry of Higher Education, on 27 December. This explanation says, the monthly budgetary relief allowance of Rs.10,000 and the 05% and 15% allowances provided by the 2016 Budget have been accordingly added to the basic salary. They are not increases worked out on a percentage basis, the explanation notes.

It seems the FUTA leadership is not in agreement with that explanation and their argument is based on percentages, comparing the universities with other State corporations and parallel public services. FUTA Secretary had therefore written 02 letters to the chairman UGC on 07 and 10 February to raise core issues they seek answers for. The UGC chairman, in his letter of 16 February addressed to the Treasury Secretary, requesting a meeting to discuss the issues raised by FUTA lists them as,


i. Freezing of allowances on the basic salary of 31 December, 2015


ii. Not honouring the agreement to implement the fifth increment in 2017


iii. Provision of the retirement vehicle permit


iv. Payment of communication allowance not received by large number of academics.


Do these core issues justify any haste in going for a two day strike, just 14 days after the UGC Chairman requesting a meeting with the Treasury Secretary? This strike decision exhibits the political bankruptcy of the FUTA leadership. 


Few in the leadership manipulate the FUTA decisions as they please and according to their own personal or political agendas. It is said, despite FUTA President proposing thrice over to officially stand against SAITM along with the GMOA and other protesting parties and groups, FUTA could not decide on that as there were dissenting views and positions. 


To date FUTA has not taken an official stand on the SAITM. This two day strike was thus smuggled in order to back the IUSF protests of Wednesday. The FUTA decision to strike on the same day thus allows easy and comfortable space for IUSF to rally students for their protest.


Indirectly, the FUTA leadership can now claim they supported the anti SAITM agitations. This assumption that the FUTA leadership manipulated with their strike decision to support the SAITM agitation is proved beyond doubt, after the UGC Vice chairman wrote to the FUTA leadership on March 7, informing them of the positive developments on their demands and that a meeting has been agreed upon with the Finance Ministry, Treasury, Higher Education Ministry, UGC and FUTA for 13 March. 


UGC sources say, prior to the letter being sent, FUTA leadership had been informed of the positive developments and contents of the letter on 06 March. Even otherwise, any decent and responsible trade union leadership would have on 07 March after receiving the UGC letter, immediately postponed the decision to strike till after the 13 March meeting-but not FUTA leadership. 


They decided to stay with the strike decision for March 8 for no other reason but to support the IUSF protest against SAITM on that day. They then advised other university teachers’ associations to consider calling off the strike on March 9.


Apart from their utterly callous manner in taking trade union action on very petty, sectarian and opportunistic demands, in supporting the anti-SAITM protests, they were forced at the last minute to parrot on their old slogan of “6% of the GDP for education”, in order to attract some degree of respect and dignity. 


That raises many other issues regarding degree of commitment, mediocrity and opportunism of the FUTA leadership comprising of over 125 academics in the Board of Representatives (BoR) along with other vocal groups in universities.


Demanding 6% of the GDP for education is only a popular romanticised slogan. It holds no validity in an education system including university administration that 


(1) Cannot even utilise the total annual allocations received at present and 


(2) Has no plans to spend the 06% asked for. 


The FUTA leadership has the responsibility of at least initiating a serious discourse on education if they are serious about the 06% demand they once again use to justify their petty issues used for the present 02 day strike. The 1st time this was publicly demanded by the FUTA leadership was towards the end of their 100-day strike in 2012. 


That was to rally some public support to their flagging strike. Ever since then, the FUTA leadership has not done anything on the 6% demand to make it a public call.


These academics have completely failed in generating an intellectual discourse on education. Not even on university and higher education, now that the SAITM demands such broad discussions on education reforms. There is a need to discuss, not only about the quality of medical education as the SAITM controversy is bogged down on, but about the quality of education in all faculties in all universities in the country.


It is accepted that our university education as a whole is ancient in content and knowledge. Most universities have been established without any attention on the quality of academic staff. Corruption is inherent now in how visiting lecturers are accommodated universities. 


Even recruitments to staff positions are done haphazardly. There are an umpteen number of issues that can be raised about the quality of education in universities, the FUTA leadership should have taken up at least when demanding salary increases.


Therefore even at this late stage of their very opportunistic protest, it would be worth their academic integrity if FUTA can provide authentic information on, 


(1) How many professors are there in each university according to faculties? (2) How many of them have a PhD in relation to their specialised subject area? 


(3) How many lecturers have applied and received the allowance for research during the years 2012 to 2016 and have completed the promised research? 


(4) How many of those research papers have been published in accepted and recognised journals? 


(5) When were the syllabi of subjects taught in universities last upgraded and improved? 


(6) How many academics have used their sabbatical leave during the years 2012 to 2016 and what have they used that leave for?


This is some of the basic information the public would wish to know in assessing what quality there is in our universities, the people fund out of direct and indirect taxes. “Free” education that FUTA and the GMOA wants safeguarded, which in reality is not free, but paid for by the people, cannot be without quality. Thus the basic information asked for, can be the first RTI request on education made from a public platform and would help generate a new discourse for reforms on higher education, the FUTA leaders and the academics wish to ignore in maintaining their preferred status and privileges. 


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  Comments - 1

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  • Dinesh Kumara Sunday, 12 March 2017 08:00 PM

    Dear Reporter,What do you want to say? Lectures are the highest educational people in the country.Please keep in mind


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