*Despite government intervention
Despite an assurance from the Government of Liberia to increase salaries of members of the University of Liberia Faculty Association (ULFA), the local premiere university staffers have issued a communique to announce their disengagement from all academic activities at the university.
ULFA in a statement announced that it has disengaged from all academic activities as of Wednesday, 1 December 2021, despite the government’s intervention and commitment to commence addressing the association’s key demands contained in a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
ULFA reached the decision at a special general assembly on the University of Liberia (UL) Capitol Hill campus presided over by the association’s president Dr. Edna Johnny.
Multiple sources knowledgeable about a meeting with ULFA on Wednesday, 1 December have revealed to the NewDawn newspaper that Finance Minister Samuel Tweah was on the university campus and signed an MOU with ULFA which is on course for implementation.
Minister Tweah, according to multiple sources, sought to avert the imminent faculty boycott of all academic activities through continuous negotiations, but they went ahead with their plan despite signing the document.
Key elements of the MOU are said to include reforming the pay scale to end disparity between higher-pay UL administrators and Ph.D. professors and other instructors (salary harmonization). This has been done, saving 800,000 from administration to apply to teachers.
But the cost, according to sources, is $3.5m and the government has agreed to find an additional $2m beginning 1 January 2022. With this new intervention by the government, it means a typical Master’s degree five years instructor will get USD 470 more. The deal was said to have been sealed during a meeting with ULFA Wednesday.
Sealed also was the payment of back pay from former UL President Dr. Ophelia Inez Weeks’ time. ULFA said the administration owes them $850,000, but the government had settled with them on payment of US$700,000.
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The government has already processed 500,000 of that and is processing the other 200,000 to pay by Friday, 3 December 2021, according to sources.
Despite their big demands being treated given this information on Wednesday, our sources said ULFA however chose to lay down their chalks.
Meanwhile, this paper has been informed that the Tweah has called for a transparent assessment of UL revenue and expenditure next Wednesday. All revenue streams will be compared to expenditures, our sources said.
Further, the Finance Minister is also said to have agreed to take over UL payroll, something which ULFA is said to have already demanded.
Going forward, our sources added, a certain fraction of free tuition payment will be assigned to solve issues affecting faculty.
Some knowledgeable about the meeting suggest that the ULFA president Dr. Johnny has worked hard, but it seems she is up against people who have other aims.
ULFA’s resolution adopted at the special general assembly Wednesday said faculty members present at the special general assembly lamented the willful delay on the part of the Government and UL Administration to adhere to the implementation of the MoU signed on 1 October 2021 for the first two months (October and November 2021) deliverables in accordance with the timelines indicated in the MoU.
ULFA said the two months deliverables include, but not limited to salaries and allowances disparity among faculty members as well as disparities between faculty and administrative staff.
They also cited salary increment for faculty members; Part-time faculty back pay; Part-time faculty current semester salaries; and unpaid data package for some faculty members.
Additionally, ULFA lamented about Backlog in Social Security Remittance; Addressing the deplorable sanitary condition on the campuses of the University of Liberia; and the commitment to fully implement the MoU.
In the resolution, the association said its gathering was in line with its Constitution and By-Laws as enshrined in Article 8 Section 1 and 2.
ULFA said the special general assembly had in attendance over 150 faculty members during which Dr. Johnny briefed members on the status of the MoU signed between the Government of Liberia, UL Administration, and ULFA on 1 October 2021.
“Wherefore, after extensive deliberations around the above issues by faculty members at the Special General Assembly, the body overwhelmingly resolved to disengage from all academic activities as of the date of this resolution until all its demands are met as stipulated in the October 1, 2021, MoU,” the resolution said.
Following ULFA’s decision, UL students went on the rampage and had exchanges with riot police.https://thenewdawnliberia.com/ul-faculty-to-hold-weah-accountable/
