Workers Solidarity Movement

Irish Universities are increasingly seeing their primary role as being that of a moneymaking corporation rather than centres of education and knowledge. This isn't too good for the vast majority of students but it also is bad news for most of the workers in the colleges as well.UCD is rebranding itself faster than most universities so perhaps it is no surprise that workers in UCD are finding themselves squeezed. The latest squeeze is in relation to the 3% pay increase we are due under the Towards 2016 national plan. With inflation running at 5.2% you would be surprised to hear that this increase, almost 2% behind inflation is being refused because the union negotiation committees failed to promise enough of a productivity increase!

The idea of having to promise productivity in return for what is in effect a pay cut is a bizarre one but typical of the brave new world of corporate education. The corporate world in the last three decades has seen a massive increase in the gap between what most workers earn and what company CEO's earn. Things are no different higher education where, while refusing that 3% increase for almost all of the workers, the college presidents are looking for a massive increase of €135,000 per year for themselves!

This article is from Workers Solidarity No96, March April 2007

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