Lecturers threaten industrial action

AS Leaving Certificate students await their exam results tomorrow, lecturers at Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) are threatening strike action and disruption to the new college term.

The Teachers’ Union of Ireland has warned management at WIT if they proceed with planned cutbacks and job cuts in the music school then it can expect swift industrial action - including strike action.

At the end of last month, WIT announced it had been forced to cut teaching hours and pupil numbers at the city’s School of Music based at College Street.

It blamed “resource constraints” for the cut, adding it much regretted the move and the impact it would have on staff and the 850 students from age four upwards.

Speaking after an emergency meeting of TUI members who work in the music school, Colm Long, branch secretary of WIT, said the TUI was committed to protecting the security of employment of all its members in WIT.

“If management of WIT continue with these cutbacks, then they cannot expect that over 400 TUI members in WIT will stand idly by and allow a small group of members in the music school to be picked off and sent to the dole queue. There has never been any redundancy in WIT in its history and it is not going to start now.”

Mr Long also accused WIT management of attempting to bypass a number of pieces of employment legislation and denying members their legal entitlements.

Under the Fixed Term Contract Legislation enacted in 2003, nine long-serving contract staff would be entitled to permanent contracts or “contracts of indefinite duration” from September 1.

The TUI has made a formal complaint to the Rights Commissioners Service of the Labour Court regarding the refusal by WIT management to issue pro-rata contracts for the other part-time staff as provided for by the Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001.

A spokesperson for WIT said while acknowledging the legitimate concerns of the union and its members, the resource constraints referred to the institute’s own initial media statement on July 27 still existed and needed to be faced.

The spokesperson said talks were continuing and WIT retained its commitment to examining “every possible avenue” with representatives of involved parties with the hope of developing a model to “sustain music tuition into the future”.