Published Mon, May 28th, 2018
Press Release
ETUCE and French trade unions SNCS-FSU, SNES-FSU, SNESUP-FSU FERC-CGT and UNSA-Education are cordially inviting you to a joint Press Conference which will take place on Wednesday 23 May at 14:00 at Université Paris Descartes, Room "Salle du Conseil”, 12 Rue de l’Ecole de Médecine, 75006 Paris Paris
ETUCE, the European Trade Union Committee for Education, representing 11 million education and research sector employees in 40 European countries, and its member organisations in France are deeply concerned about the future of the higher education in European related to the implementation of the Bologna Process and the future of the European Higher Education Area.
The Paris Communiqué, to be adopted by the Ministerial Conference in Paris on 24-25 May, will focus on ensuring ‘fundamental values’ in higher education such as freedom of expression, autonomy for institutions, academic freedom, independent students’ unions and free movement of students and staff remain integral to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).
In Europe, employees in the higher education and research sector are facing a certain number of difficulties which result in the downgrading of their professional status.
As a matter of fact, ETUCE member organisations regularly report[1] threats to teachers and researchers professional autonomy through the assertion of their right to academic freedom. They also highlight the deteriorating working and living conditions of academics, including salary freezes, cuts and some unacceptable changes in pension schemes. The precarious employment through casual contracts without any clear future career paths for young academics continues to jeopardise the attractiveness of the teaching profession in the higher education and research sector.
At the press conference we will present:
1. A list of demands of the European higher education and research trade unions from the ministers of the Ministerial Conference;
2. Our report published for the attention of the ministers. In this we present four demands concerning the future of the Bologna Process:
1. The better protection of academic freedom as one of the fundamental values of the Bologna process;
2. The importance of greater core public investment in higher education and research;
3. The need to ensure a supportive working environment for staff, including improved job security and working conditions, and
4. A call for better recognition of teaching in higher education.
Press Contact: ETUCE Secretariat : secretariat@csee-etuce.org
Registrations: SNCS-FSU Secretariat : sncs@cnrs.fr