Archive for the 'News' Category

Teacher unions rule out return to talks on change

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

The General Secretaries and Presidents of the four teacher unions met this morning to consider the impact of the budget on teachers and their families and plan a response.
The leadership of the unions is determined to reflect the anger of teachers at the budget cuts to salaries and changes to pensions through a sustained campaign [...]

Budget displays a ‘cut, cut, cut’ approach to education, says IFUT

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

In an initial reaction to today’s Budget, Mike Jennings, IFUT General Secretary, has described the Government’s approach to education funding as one of “cut, cut and cut again”.
“Cut the pay of an already demoralised staff, cut staff numbers to the bone and cut the funds needed to replace creakingly inadequate infrastructure – that seems to [...]

IFUT to sanction withdrawal of productivity in event of pay cuts

Sunday, December 6th, 2009

IFUT has declared that, if the Government cuts the pay of their members, then the Union will sanction an equivalent withdrawal of productivity.
“If they cut our pay, they can hardly expect us to continue working as though nothing had happened. I expect that IFUT members will disengage from non-core duties, particularly in the administrative area”, [...]

Talks failure ‘missed opportunity by government’, says IFUT

Friday, December 4th, 2009

The breakdown today of talks between the unions and government on public sector pay talks represents a failed opportunity to get our economy and society back on track, Mike Jennings, IFUT General Secretary, has said.
“Government officials and trade unions negotiators had been achingly close to reaching an overall agreement which would have brought about an [...]

IFUT reacts to HEA statement on overseas students

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

The announcement by the HEA that there are now students from 139 countries studying here only serves to illustrate the diversity of educational, social and cultural challenges faced by third-level institutions and staff in assisting these students to adapt and gain from their time here, Mike Jennings, IFUT General Secretary, has said.
“It is immensely frustrating [...]

Universities threatened by market-based funding, warn international experts

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

Universities are being subjected to the same market-based, profit-driven policies that caused the crisis in the financial markets and face an increasing risk of a crisis in academic standards and credibility, David Robinson, [...]

IFUT General Secretary nominated to ILO Best Practice Working Group

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

The IFUT General Secretary, Mike Jennings, has been nominated by Education International as an expert to an International Labour Office (ILO) Working Group which is drawing up a Toolkit on Best Practice for the Teaching Profession world-wide.
The Toolkit is an important new initiative of ILO Sectoral Activities and is strongly supported by Education International. The [...]

Will Marketisation destroy the University ideal?

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

IFUT is holding an important seminar on Saturday, 31 October 2009 in the Gresham Hotel, O’Connell Street, Dublin, entitled Will Marketisation Destroy the University Ideal?.
The seminar will hear keynote contributions from David Robinson and [...]

USI and IFUT Condemn Government’s Third-Level Recruitment Embargo

Friday, October 9th, 2009

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) and the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) have condemned the Government’s recruitment embargo in third-level institutes.
The Higher Education Authority (HEA) demanded that, this year, all Higher Education institutes cut employment to 3 per cent below 2008 levels. The ban has affected the academic quality, as well as [...]

TUI and IFUT dismiss ESRI research as ‘patently flawed’

Friday, October 9th, 2009

In a joint statement today, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) and Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) rejected as ‘misleading’ and ‘flawed’ the findings of an ESRI survey on a pay differential between public and private higher education staff.
The latest ESRI figures on a public and private pay differential between higher education staff are [...]