IFUT today rejected the Croke Park proposals on pay and conditions for public servants.
In the ballot, 67.68% of the membership voted ‘No’, while 32.32% voted in favour.
IFUT General Secretary, Mike Jennings, said the vote “reflects the strong determination of our members not to have their job contracts put forward for binding arbitration.
“IFUT will be casting [...]
The Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) has welcomed the candour of the Chief Executive of the Higher Education Authority, who has warned higher education staff of plans to make fundamental changes to their contracts, to close courses in colleges and extend the academic year radically.
IFUT General Secretary, Mike Jennings warned that the HEA’s rôle [...]
The Irish University system has always had to struggle and was never properly funded, even during the years of the Celtic Tiger, the President of the Irish Federation of University Teachers, Hugh Gibbons, said in his address to the 2010 IFUT Annual Delegate Conference today (Saturday, 24 April 2010). Now the Irish University system is [...]
The Executive of the Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) has decided unanimously to recommend rejection of the government’s proposed agreement with the trade unions on pay and conditions.
“While recognising that there are some positives in the proposed agreement, the offer of a blank cheque for the renegotiation of staff contracts, with fundamental and far [...]
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 [...]
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 has released an important policy document on the Government’s employment policy for Higher Education
The main points of the IFUT policy are:
The Government’s Employment Policy for the Higher Education Sector is Illegal
The Government’s Policy is Politically Stupid
The Government’s Policy is Contradictory and Unworkable
The Minister’s Policy Will Lead to Higher Drop-out Rates
The Minister’s Policy is Anti-Democratic
IFUT [...]
IFUT has issued a Press Release in initial response to the report by “An Bord Snip Nua”.
“This report, and, in particular, the parts of it which relate to education, will come to be regarded as one of the most short-sighted documents in Irish education history. At a time when more and more people are turning [...]
The Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, has today (16 July 2009) released the Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes. The Group, popularly known as An Bord Snip Nua, which has sat for the last six months, was chaired by UCD Economist, Colm McCarthy.
The Press Statement announcing the release of [...]
IFUT General Secretary, Mike Jennings, said any rationalisation of higher education would only work if it emerged from a sincere and constructive engagement with all of the stakeholders, particularly the university staff who are represented by IFUT.
“Rationalisation could be a good thing if it were genuinely aimed at bringing about improvements in the education system. [...]