TUI members in Institutes of Technology have voted by a margin of 92% on a turnout of 56% to engage in a campaign of industrial action in order to tackle a number of crisis issues. The sector has been subject to severe funding and staffing cuts at a time of a huge increase in student numbers. The union representatives urge the Minister for Education and Skills to engage meaningfully with them on negotiating a number of issues. In the absence of meaningful negotiations, the union considers that strike action before the general election is inevitable. The Institute of Technology sector is in crisis. Funding was cut by 35% (€190m) between 2008 and 2015. Over the same period, student numbers rose by a staggering (32%) 21,411 while lecturer numbers actually fell by 9.5% (535). This had a direct, detrimental effect on the quality of service to students and the working conditions of academics. As a result of the fall in lecturer numbers and the steep rise in student numbers, lecturer workload increased significantly. Findings of a survey carried out by TUI (April 2015) show that lecturers are experiencing high levels of work related stress as a result of cutbacks and rationalisation measures in the sector.
English: http://www.tui.ie/news-events/third-level-members-vote-overwhelmingly …
For more information, please contact the editor Jan Cremers, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) cbn-aias@uva.nl or the communications officer at the ETUI, Mariya Nikolova mnikolova@etui.org. For previous issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit http://www.etui.org/E-Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net.