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Education

'Vulnerable' university staff being targeted, warns IFUT

The Irish Federation of University Teachers says the threat of redundancy “stalks” today’s higher education sector.

JOB INSECURITY AND the threat of redundancy is rampant in today’s higher education sector, according to Mike Jennings, General Secretary of the Irish Federation of University Teachers.

Speaking at the 2012 Annual Delegate Conference in Dublin today, Jennings said that the most vulnerable university staff were increasingly seeing their jobs being threatened as university managements “seeking to breach” the provisions of the 2003 Fixed-Term Work Act.

“In our Annual Report we refer to no less than 15 separate cases in the last year alone where IFUT has had to fight and fight again to defend rights given to us under the 2003 Act. Other cases are in the pipeline while yet others have since been resolved”, he said.

“Despite all the promises given to induce us to concede massive productivity under ‘Croke Park’, the reality is that job insecurity and the threat of redundancy stalks the Higher Education Sector today”, he added.

Meanwhile, the Irish Research Staff Association (IRSA) and the IFUT have signed an agreement on co-operation that is geared to ensure a “more effective representation for researchers on pay and conditions and to protect the rights of individual researchers.”

‘Disgraceful’: Students slate top university staff refusal to take pay cut>

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