This is a synopsis of a letter sent to the following top officials of the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT): (i) UTT Deputy Chairman Professor Clement Imbert, (ii) President Sarim Al-Zubaidy, (iii) Vice President of Human Resources Leah Ramgattie, (iv) Centre for Education Programmes Head Dr Judy Rocke, (v) Minister of Education Anthony Garcia, (vi) Minister of State in the Ministry of Education Dr. Lovell Francis, and (vii) President of the Republic & UTT Chancellor Designate Paula-Mae Weekes.
I am writing you on behalf of the 18+ lecturers who were wrongfully dismissed from the Centre for Education Programmes (CEP) at the UTT on May 11, 2018. Our dismissal letters stated that we were “surplus” lecturers who became “redundant” in the university’s “restructuring exercise.”
President of the Republic Paula-Mae Weekes (Photo credit: Newsday)
Case summary
We were wrongfully dismissed because the following due process was not followed: (i) consultation with the affected employee, (ii) prior notice of dismissal, (iii) presentation of evidence by the employer, (iv) an opportunity for the employee to respond, (v) representation of the employee by an attorney, (vi) notice of dismissal, (vii) a right to appeal, and (viii) a right to judicial review.
The UTT breached its own human resources policy outlined in its official published Handbook. In Policy Ref. No. HR 17, Clause iv, the Separation Policy states: “Before an employee is dismissed, the University will ensure that due process has been followed in arriving at the decision to dismiss.” The Separation Policy was signed by UTT’s Chairman Professor Kenneth Julien on 17th March 2009.
The case for our reinstatement
On September 3, 2018, the new semester and academic year will begin with the following vacancies.
- The employment contracts of about 26 lecturers at the CEP would expire on August 31, 2018.
- About eight (8) lecturers would be 70+ years old. [The age limit to work at UTT is 70]. And
- Five lecturers on secondment would be sent back to their respective schools.
There would be about 39 vacancies arising out of (a) the natural termination of contracts, (b) age limit restriction, and (c) lecturers returned to their substantive jobs. In accordance with the principles of good industrial relations, we are requesting that we, the 18+ retrenched lecturers, be reinstated or re-employed as a PRIORITY in the vacancies arising from (a), (b) and (c).
To re-employ others before Semester 1 begins on September 3, 2018 would be administratively, procedurally, conventionally, constitutionally and legally wrong.
Precedence of other universities and organisations
Precedence has been set by the following universities and organisations such as the University of Alabama at Bermingham (UAB), Arcadia University and the American Association of University Professors. Their policies and/or guidelines state that for a period of 2 to 3 years, no teaching vacancy should be filled by anyone before first offering the position to a retrenched lecturer.
The UTT has no clear policy or regulation on reemployment or reinstatement, but the spirit of the following Separation Policy (Ref. No. HR 17, Clause v) in its official published Handbook should serve as a guideline: “Where it is determined that the University is overstaffed in any area of its operations and the surplus staff cannot be reasonably employed in another area, the University will consider retrenchment as a final option.”
Legal case for our IMMEDIATE reinstatement
In our employment contracts and dismissal letters, our previous employer, the UTT, states that it has been guided by the Retrenchment and Severance Benefits Act No 32 of 1985.
Section 18. (3) of the Act gives significance to employees who have worked “without a break in service for between more than one but less than five years.” I, and some lecturers who have been retrenched, have rendered more than ten (10) years of continuous service to the university.
Section 18. (3) of the Act also uses the term “absorption of retrenched workers” in the context of an attainable and acceptable “solution” for unfairly dismissed lecturers like us.
Section 10. (4) of The Industrial Relations Act (23 of 1972, amended in 1994) addresses the option of “re-employment or reinstatement (in his former or a similar position)” of a retrenched employee.
Section 10. (5) of the said Industrial Relations Act states that amicable options must be explored for dismissed employees “in circumstances that are harsh and oppressive or not in accordance with the principles of good industrial relations.”
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, CHAPTER 1 under The Recognition and Protection of Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms, PART I, 4. (d) guarantees “the right of the individual to equality of treatment from any public authority in the exercise of any function.” In the LIST OF PUBLIC AUTHORITIES PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT, CHAPTER 22:02, UTT is identified as a public authority.
Conclusion
We seek your kind assistance/intervention in this matter URGENTLY.
is a full-time anthropologist at the University of Guyana (UG) and Fellow of The Eccles Centre for American Studies, British Library (2022-23). He is a former Assistant Professor at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). He obtained his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Florida (UF). As a doctoral student, he won a Florida Caribbean Institute Award, an A. Curtis Wilgus Grant, and an Organization of American States (OAS) Fellowship.
Mahabir received a National Award (Hummingbird Silver Medal) for his contribution to education in his country in 2011. He was among 50 recipients who received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the UWI Alumni Association.
Mahabir is the author of 12 books to date.