Ninth Level Ireland

“Unite the Union – which represents technical staff in College – has strongly condemned a ‘lack of leadership’ in Trinity, after it announced today that staff and students would be notified about arrangements for the second semester ‘by Friday’. Cieran Perry, the secretary of Trinity’s Unite the Union house committee, said that the union was ‘very disappointed with the lack of leadership from the college’ …” (more)

[Cormac Watson, University Times, 5 January]

“Unite members at Queen’s University Belfast Students’ Union (QUBSU) are celebrating a major victory in their impressive, seven-week-long campaign for respect and pay justice. The campaign developed after workers on zero-hour, casual contracts were left without pay since August as a result of the refusal of university authorities to enroll them on the government Job Retention Scheme (JRS) …” (more)

[Socialist Party, 22 December]

“A trade union has branded the response of Queen’s University to a collective grievance raised by zero hours employees at student union facilities which have had to close temporarily due to Covid restrictions as ‘disgraceful’. Unite said the decision not to place employees on furlough now leaves zero hours workers facing impoverishment, with almost half of the workers also losing their accommodation due to financial hardship …” (more)

[Mark Bain, Belfast Telegraph, 28 November]

“Trade unions representing staff at all levels of the education system have joined forces to call for emergency funding to ease the ‘crisis’ facing third level institutions. The Irish Congress of Trade Union’s education sector group – which includes unions representing staff at primary, secondary and tertiary level – says the coronavirus pandemic has exposed serious flaws at the heart of the third level system …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 4 June]

“Trade unions representing staff at all levels of the education system have called for the creation of a new sectoral forum to help address the crisis affecting the third level sector. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions Education Sector Group says emergency funding will be needed to address the immediate impact of the Covid-19 crisis on universities and other higher education institutions, which have experienced significant funding deficits as a result …” (more)

[Fórsa, 25 May]

“All areas of Trinity will have to produce a safety statement and workplace audit before staff return to work, as part of the College’s roadmap to re-opening fully amid the pandemic. Trinity has set up a Return to Work Committee to manage the transition back to College for staff, and current staffing levels will not be increased before an audit undertaken alongside the College safety officer, according to an email sent to staff members of Unite the Union last Friday …” (more)

[Sárán Fogarty, University Times, 15 May]

“Staff at University of Limerick are reportedly being subjected to ‘bullying and harassment’ under what has been described as ‘dictatorship’ management within the university. The university’s union, UL-Unite, also stated in its February newsletter that members have claimed bullying has ‘escalated to a very dangerous level’, and is affecting the mental health of some staff …” (more)

[Rebecca Laffan, Limerick Leader, 7 March]

“The ballot for industrial action which was set to be put to University of Limerick staff this week has been called off. The decision was announced to over 200 members of the university’s union, UL-Unite, at an emergency meeting this Tuesday …” (more)

[Rebecca Laffan, Limerick Leader, 11 December]

“The President of UL has confirmed that the current restructuring plan of the university is now ‘paused’ and acknowledged that ‘mistakes were made’ in the formulation of the plan. In an email addressed to colleagues in relation to the restructuring plan of the university’s schools and departments, Dr Des Fitzgerald said …” (more)

[Ryan O’Rourke and Rebecca Laffan, Limerick Leader, 6 December]

“University of Limerick staff are set to be balloted for potential strike action next week as they reject UL’s Executive Committee’s offer for an extended consultation period for structural changes within the university’s schools and departments. On Monday, the Executive Committee, which is chaired by UL President Des Fitzgerald, informed staff via email that they are ‘more than happy’ to provide ‘additional time to facilitate collaborative debate’ on the proposed condensing of the university’s 24 schools and departments into 10 …” (more)

[Rebecca Laffan, Limerick Leader, 5 December]

“More than 300 University of Limerick staff members gathered at a public meeting earlier this week to discuss the university’s recent controversial restructural proposal. And it was followed this week by a letter signed by 50 professors at UL looking for the reorganisation proposals to be paused by the Governing body so they can ‘instruct that reorganisation proposals are only tabled after a thorough review of the academic structures’ …” (more)

[Rebecca Laffan, Limerick Leader, 29 November]

“Management at University of Limerick (UL) is facing an academic revolt after 50 professors signed a letter calling for the suspension of restructuring at the college, which they said risks making it academically ‘not fit for purpose’. The university, which is getting ready to celebrate its 50th anniversary, has published a plan to develop a new campus in the heart of Limerick city. It is aiming to cater for an additional 4,000 mostly postgraduate or international students …” (more)

[Colin Gleeson, Irish Times, 27 November]

“Hundreds of UNITE union members at the University of Limerick (UL) are to be balloted on industrial action up to and including strike action. A letter seeking a formal ballot across all UL-UNITE staff grades was sent to the trade union’s headquarters earlier this week, Limerick Voice has learned …” (more)

[Nicole Glennon and Eoghan Moloney, Limerick Voice, 16 November]

“Construction workers and trade union representatives gathered outside the Printing House Square construction site this morning to protest against the underpayment of plumbers working on Trinity’s new student accommodation complex. With a giant inflatable rat in tow, protestors stood outside the Pearse St entrance of Trinity …” (more)

[Cormac Watson, University Times, 16 August]

“College has launched an investigation into claims that workers on the Printing House Square site have received hourly rates €2 to €3 lower than legal requirements. Plumbers and apprentices on the site complained about their wages in February to Rob Kelly, a regional organiser for trade union Unite, while he was visiting the site, Kelly told the Dublin Inquirer …” (more)

[Lauren Boland, Trinity News, 31 July]

“Since March, Rob Kelly has been trying to get somebody to care about plumbers and apprentices on a student-accommodation building site being – he says – underpaid. Once finished, Printing House Square should offer 250 beds for students, plans show. The project, which is being overseen by Bennett Construction Limited, is being built on the former site of Oisín House on Pearse Street, for Trinity College Dublin …” (more)

[Aura McMenamin, Dublin Inquirer, 31 July]

“Up to 28 staff at a language school have not been paid amid fears it has closed down. The union representing some of the teachers at Grafton College in Portobello, Dublin appealed to the Department of Education to step in and ‘not to wash its hands of this’ just weeks before Christmas …” (more)

[Laura Lynott, Independent, 3 December]

“Sir, – The Department of Archaeology in University College Cork wishes to express strong support for the position currently being taken by the trade union Unite in seeking better pay and working conditions for commercial archaeologists in Ireland (‘Archaeologists seek “appropriate” pay after site walk-off’, News, July 9th) …” (more)

[William O’Brien, Irish Times, 30 July]

“Academic staff in TCD are seeking intervention by the Workplace Relations Commission to mediate a solution on proposed changes to the academic year and holiday arrangements that will seriously impact on time available for research work. The changes, part of the new Trinity Education Project, impact on holiday arrangements and affect staff represented by IFUT, SIPTU and Unite unions …” (more)

[Irish Federation of University Teachers, 30 April]

“Almost 150 foreign students and 10 staff members have been affected by the closure of a Limerick language school which lost its accreditation following an inspection by immigration authorities. Trade union Unite, which represents English language teachers, said staff at LanLearn had been left without wages, while it has expressed concern for students left ‘stranded’ by the closure …” (more)

[Carl O’Brien, Irish Times, 22 March]