TUI members in AIT vote in favour of strike action

TUI members in Institutes of Technology, including AIT, have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action.

The dispute is over grave concerns around significant aspects of the Technological Universities Bill.

The Teachers Union of Ireland members, representing 4,000 lecturers and researchers including 280 based at AIT, took a day’s strike action on February 3, and once again voted by a margin of 85% to take further industrial action.

Concerns lie around heavy workloads, low staffing levels, and the impact on delivery of curricula to students at AIT and other Institutes of Technology.

TUI president Gerry Quinn said the Technological Universities Bill contains significant threats to the Institute of Technology sector, its regional provision and to the working conditions of academic staff.

“TUI members were balloted on engagement in a campaign of industrial action over deep concerns related to mergers of Institutes of Technology and the serious implications of such mergers.

“As a result of this ballot, we now have a strong mandate for industrial action from our members in order to tackle these dangers and to secure a negotiated, national resolution of these key issues. The union will decide on how best to utilise this mandate in the near future,” he said.

“We urge the Department of Education and Skills and the Higher Education Authority to engage with us to seek a sustainable and manageable resolution to these grave concerns.”

CUTBACKS
The TUI president believes the requirement that Institutes of Technology must merge before they can apply for Technological University status is more related to cost-saving than to any academic considerations.

“Between 2008 and 2015, funding for the sector was cut by a massive 35%, or €190m. Over the same time period, lecturer numbers fell by 9.5% (535) while student numbers rose by a staggering 32% (21,411).

“As a result, many institutes are struggling to tread water. ”

Other key issues include the need to protect the ‘mission’ of the sector, which has a strong focus on meeting local and regional needs, the risk of “geographic inequity” and the failure in some institutes to consult properly with academic staff.

There are some 123 amendments proposed to the Bill, which Mr Quinn says demonstrates the level of concern around a range of key issues.