College to pay back staff who donated wages to keep jobs

STAFF of University College Cork who agreed to give a week’s wages back to help bosses keep jobs are to have the money repaid.

In an email to all staff last week, just hours before Finance Minister Brian Lenihan announced wage cuts of 5% to 15% for all public sector workers, UCC president Dr Michael Murphy said the money was being returned and he thanked those who had contributed.

He made the appeal to staff last April as UCC and all other third-level colleges were told to cut staffing levels by 3% this year and again in 2010. It is believed the numbers who volunteered to give up the money – equivalent to almost 2% of wages – was quite low among the college’s 2,800-plus staff.