Tag Archives: Industrial action

News, SCHOOLS

Most Kerry ETB Schools To Be Unaffected By Teachers’ Strike Action

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Gaelcholaiste Chiarrai
Gaelcholáiste Chiarraí will not be affected by Thursday’s strike action.

WHILE most secondary schools in the country will be affected by teachers’ strike action on Thursday, most Kerry ETB schools, including Gaelcholáiste Chiarraí and Coláiste Gleann Lí will not be affected.

Industrial action by members of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) now looks likely to go ahead after they failed to reach a resolution with the Department of Education yesterday.

The union has announced seven days of strikes over the next three months, in response to lower pay for recently qualified teachers and the worsening of ASTI members’ terms and conditions.

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Kerry ETB issued a press release this morning saying the following Kerry ETB schools will be open and will not be affected by the ASTI dispute on Thursday:

• Castleisland Community College
• Causeway Comprehensive School
• Coláiste Gleann Lí, Tralee
• Coláiste na Ríochta, Listowel
• Gaelcholáiste Chiarraí Tralee
• Killarney Community College
• Killorglin Community College

• Kerry College Of Further Education

Coláiste na Sceilge will not be in a position to receive students on Thursday due to the ASTI dispute as this school has dual union membership.  Therefore Parents/Guardians are requested not to send their child to Coláiste na Sceilge on Thursday.

Teaching staff in the other Kerry ETB schools are members of the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI).

Parents and Students are advised that information updates will be available from the schools and the Kerry ETB Head Office (www.kerryetb.ie and twitter/com/kerryetb).

Further talks will take place today and tomorrow between the department and the ASTI, which represents some 17,000 secondary teachers.

News, SCHOOLS

TUI Strike Action At ITT ‘Inevitable’ Unless Govt Negotiates On Critical Issues

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There could be strike action by IT Tralee TUI members in the new year.

TUI members in Institutes of Technology, including IT Tralee, have voted by a margin of 92% to engage in a campaign of industrial action in order to tackle a number of  issues in their sector.

In a vote with a 56% turnout of members, announced yesterday, the Union said strike action is inevitable before the general election unless meaningful negotiations with the Minister for Education takes place.

TUI President Gerry Quinn said: “Academic staff in Institutes of Technology have made their position very clear in this ballot, and the next course of action will be decided by the union’s Executive Committee in the new year. In the meantime, we urge the Minister for Education and Skills to engage meaningfully with us on a number of critical issues. In the absence of meaningful negotiations, strike action before the general election is inevitable.”

The Union says funding in the sector was cut by 35% (€190m) between 2008 and 2015. Over the same time period, student numbers rose by a (32%) 21,411 while lecturer numbers actually fell by 9.5% (535).

“This has had a direct, detrimental effect on the quality of service to students and the working conditions of academics,” said Mr Quinn.

“As a result of the fall in lecturer numbers and the steep rise in student numbers, lecturer workload has increased significantly and intolerably. Findings of a survey carried out by TUI (April 2015) show that lecturers are experiencing high levels of work related stress as a result of cutbacks and rationalisation measures in the sector,” he continued.

The Union is also concerned about elements of the recent publication of the Technological Universities Bill, which intends to see IT Tralee merged with Cork Institute of Technology.

They say “the intention to effect such huge change without proper resourcing in an era of hugely damaging cutbacks to the sector is ill-advised” and criticises “the lack of adequate consultation and meaningful engagement with our members”.

The Union is insisting that mergers must not be forced, and “if mergers are envisaged they must be appropriately funded and that the regional mission, which is central to the institute of technology ethos, must be explicitly retained.”

News, SCHOOLS

ITT Lecturers And Students Hold Protest Over Concerns

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ITT TUI Ursula Barret Steve Clifford Ben Slimm and Anne M C
Ursula Barrett, Steve Clifford, ITT SU President Ben Slimm and TUI ITT Branch Secretary, Anne M Courtney at the protest last Thursday.

LECTURERS and students at IT Tralee held a protest last Thursday outside the South Campus over funding and educational concerns.

It was part of the national protest by the Teacher’s Union of Ireland against the cutbacks in education, as the TUI Branch Secretary of ITT, Anne M Courtney explained.

“On a daily basis, lecturers see first-hand the damage that an era of austerity has wreaked on the education system. The austerity measures pursued by the government have taken almost €9 million out of the Institutes budgets between 2008 and 2015.  There is almost no money for the upgrading of equipment and facilities and investment in the latest technology,” she said.

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“Budget cuts have also meant that library opening hours, particularly in the South Campus are very restricted for the 1,000 students (approx.) who study there.  Student numbers are predicted to rise sharply in the next few years, yet the number of lecturing staff in Tralee has dropped by 26% since 2008 and the Employment Control Framework has prevented recruitment of permanent positions.  We are gravely concerned by the severe effects that these cutbacks are having on the quality of the learning experience for students in Tralee,” she said.

Lecturers and researchers will be balloted by TUI in the coming weeks on engagement in a campaign of industrial action, up to and including strike action, in order to secure a resolution to key issues (below).

TUI is advocating more substantial and strategic budgets to support the regional mission of the Institutes and boost economic recovery at a local level.

They are urging that lecturers, students and all concerned in the locality make this an election issue in the coming months.

The TUI state that their areas of concern include:

• The chronic underfunding of the Institutes of Technology (35% cut to sector- €190m – between 2008 and 2015)

• The critically low staffing levels at a time of a steep and ongoing increase in student numbers and the consequential unacceptable workload imposition on lecturers.

• 21,411 or 32% rise in student numbers in sector between 2008 and 2015

• 535 or 9.5% fall in full-time academic staff numbers in sector between 2008 and 2015.

• The precarious employment status, income poverty and associated exploitation of many academic staff and

• The resulting, detrimental effect of these issues on the quality of service to students (larger class sizes, less access to laboratories, tutorials, student support etc

News

Sinn Féin Gives Support To Dunnes Workers In Solidarity Protest Today

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Sinn Féin Cllr Pa Daly is hoping people support the Dunnes Stores workers today.

MANDATE trade union have organised a Solidarity Day today to show Dunnes Stores workers, who are due to go on strike on April 2, and it has the backing of Sinn Féin.

Sinn Féin Kerry County Councillor Pa Daly has called on the public and other political parties to show their support at an event at The Mall in the town centre from 3pm-6pm.

“The workers would be very much encouraged by a show of public support,” said local Sinn Féin councillor Pa Daly. “The public can also show support on the day of the strike on Thursday April 2. The workers have been left with no other option but to go on strike. They have exhausted all other courses of action,” said Cllr Daly.

“It is not too late for the management to avoid this strike from going ahead.  They need to engage with the workers union’s representatives to negotiate an acceptable resolution to the issues affecting staff,” he continued.

Over 200 Kerry Dunnes Stores Mandate workers are to strike on Holy Thursday next week.

The stoppage relates to a dispute over pay, contracts and an alleged refusal by the company to negotiate with the union on grievances under the terms of an agreement reached in 1996.

News

TUI Branch At IT Tralee Give Notice Of Industrial Action

 

IT TraleeTHE TUI branch at the Institute of Technology Tralee has given details of the first stage of industrial action which will be taken in the dispute over the proposed merger between the college and Cork Institute of Technology.

In a statement to the press this evening, the Teacher’s Union Of Ireland branch at ITT said it has served the college with notice of industrial action.

“The first stage of the industrial action will consist of a directive issued to all members (academic and research staff) in the institute not to co-operate with any merger activities,” read the statement.

“The Executive of the union at its last meeting approved the sanction for industrial action. The result from the resent Branch ballot was unambiguous with 86% voting in favour of taking industrial action,” the statement continued.

“It is clear that members are strongly opposed to a merger with the Institute of Technology Tralee. The Branch consider there is no academic rationale for the proposed merger,” it said.

The union believes that without increased investment the proposed merger is about rationalisation, this includes provision of programmes and services.

“It is the union position that institutes should be allowed apply in their own right for technological university status without having to merge first. There is also a need for a realistic playing field in order to provide fair opportunity to succeed. In this regard investment is required to bring the institute on a par with university lecturing, research and funding norms.”

“This would require the recruitment of an estimated 195 additional academic and research staff, an investment of €7 million. Increased investment is crucial if university quality and standards are to be achieved,” ended the statement.

Business/Property, News

Kerry Dunnes Stores Workers To Strike On Holy Thursday

 

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Dunnes Stores, North Circular Road.

WORKERS at three Dunnes Stores branches in Kerry are set to join their colleagues around the country in a national one-day strike on Holy Thursday.

About 200 workers in the Kerry stores, who are members of the Mandate trade union, are set to join about 5,000 other staff from 112 outlets as part of the strike during Easter Week.

Holy Thursday is a very busy shopping day, especially in their off-licence section, where people stock up alcohol for Good Friday when sales of alcohol are banned.

The stoppage relates to a dispute over pay, contracts and an alleged refusal by the company to negotiate with the union on grievances under the terms of an agreement reached in 1996 .

Mandate said over two thirds of its members at the company voted in favour of industrial action.

Mandate say Dunnes Stores workers want a number of issues addressed including:

• The implementation of banded hour contracts which would give workers security of hours and earnings.
• Fair pay for all workers in Dunnes Stores.
• A review of Dunnes’ excessive use of temporary contracts of employment.
• Individual and collective representational rights for Dunnes workers.

Gerry Light, Mandate Assistant General Secretary said: “Despite Dunnes Stores threatening job losses and cuts in hours, our members have taken the remarkable and very brave decision of voting in favour of industrial action. The close result of this ballot is a reflection of the nervousness felt by staff members over their security of income and security of their jobs.”

“They have reached the end of the road and in many ways the result of the ballot today was the inevitable waiting to happen. Where else can they go after the Company has closed off and rejected all reasonable approaches by the Union and the Labour Court to deal with the issues in dispute?”

Mr Light concluded: “One again we are saying directly to senior management and the owners of the Company that industrial action is entirely avoidable. Furthermore we are calling on them to do the responsible, reasonable and morally correct thing, and that is to enter into meaningful discussions with Mandate Trade Union. This is obviously in the best interests of the workers and of the company.”

News, SCHOOLS

PHOTOS: Teachers Take To Picket Line At Tralee Secondary Schools

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Teaching staff from Gaelcholáiste Chiarraí, Tomás Mac Muiris, Fiona Uí Mhuiris, Deirdre Ní Chochláin and Principal Austin Ó Seachnasaigh taking part in the official strike on Tuesday. Photo by Dermot Crean
Teaching staff from Gaelcholáiste Chiarraí, Tomás Mac Muiris, Fiona Uí Mhuiris, Deirdre Ní Chochláin and Principal Austin Ó Seachnasaigh taking part in the official strike on Tuesday. Photo by Dermot Crean

SECONDARY school teachers in Tralee joined their comrades all over the country in the one day strike yesterday over changes to the Junior Certificate.

Thousands of students attending Presentation, Mercy Mounthawk, CBS The Green, Gaelcholáiste Chiarraí and Coláiste Gleann Lí had a day off as members of teaching unions walked the picket line outside the schools.

The strike was centred around the main issue of teachers being asked to mark 40% of the course work of their students, but also about resources and years of cuts to education budgets.

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TraleeToday.ie visited the schools and yesterday and spoke to ASTI Shop Steward at Mercy Mounthawk, John Dowling, about the public’s reaction to the strike.

“The public perception of what we’re doing is positive enough I think, because we’re not striking about money at all,” said John Dowling, ASTI Shop Steward at Mercy Mounthawk, as a few cars whizzed by, beeping.

“We’re striking about the students’ conditions, their welfare and education. We feel that bringing in 40% continuous assessment for the Junior Cert – which won’t be assessed by the State and will be assessed by us to our own students – will make a mockery out of the whole thing,” he added.

“You’re then giving a State certificate for an exam which hasn’t been fully assessed by the State. We don’t want to be assessing our own students because questions of bias and unfairness would be raised by parents,” said Mr Dowling.

“We’re open to project work, but we want to make sure that work is taken away and externally assessed so that an ‘A’ grade in Mercy Mounthawk is an ‘A’ in Presentation and it’s an ‘A’ in Clare and in Galway. We see how how everything is  becoming so competitive with school league tables. Every school is going to want to be up there because  they want to have a good reputation. So is everybody going to be fair in that instance? I hope so, but it just leaves it open to that sort of thing,” said Mr Dowling.

There is another one day strike planned for January, unless the Government and the unions can come together and work out the issues.

Scroll down for photos…

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Teachers from Coláiste Gleann Lí in Clash, Ciara Walsh, Mike Quirke, Anthony Dineen, Norma Breen, Ann-Marie O'Kelly and John Joe Roche taking part in the official strike on Tuesday. Photo by Dermot Crean
Teachers from Coláiste Gleann Lí in Clash, Ciara Walsh, Mike Quirke, Anthony Dineen, Norma Breen, Ann-Marie O’Kelly and John Joe Roche taking part in the official strike on Tuesday. Photo by Dermot Crean
Teachers from Presentation Secondary School, Clem O'Keeffe, Mary Twomey, Catriona Walsh, Sandra Moore, Alan O'Sullivan and Mary Mulcahy taking part in the official strike on Tuesday. Photo by Dermot Crean
Teachers from Presentation Secondary School, Clem O’Keeffe, Mary Twomey, Catriona Walsh, Sandra Moore, Alan O’Sullivan and Mary Mulcahy taking part in the official strike on Tuesday. Photo by Dermot Crean
Teachers from CBS The Green, Mike Tim O'Sullivan, John O'Mahony, Sheila Mulcahy, Ann Moynihan and Rachel Moynihan taking part in the official strike on Tuesday. Photo by Dermot Crean
Teachers from CBS The Green, Mike Tim O’Sullivan, John O’Mahony, Sheila Mulcahy, Ann Moynihan and Rachel Moynihan taking part in the official strike on Tuesday. Photo by Dermot Crean
Teachers from Mercy Mounthawk, Mairead McAuliffe, Bernie O'Shea, Marie O'Connor, Aisling O'Connor, Mairead O'Mahony, Lindsey Moriarty, John Dowling, Tom Benson, Catriona O'Sullivan and Ronan Redican taking part in the official strike on Tuesday. Photo by Dermot Crean
Teachers from Mercy Mounthawk, Mairead McAuliffe, Bernie O’Shea, Marie O’Connor, Aisling O’Connor, Mairead O’Mahony, Lindsey Moriarty, John Dowling, Tom Benson, Catriona O’Sullivan and Ronan Redican taking part in the official strike on Tuesday. Photo by Dermot Crean