The UCD branch of the Postgraduate Workers Organisation picketed outside the Tierney Administrative Building this Wednesday, 21 October. Members of UCD PWO unanimously voted to strike yesterday, bringing much research work to a halt and cancelling many tutorials, labs and seminars across campus.
“Postgraduate workers are coming together, forming their own union to really push the university to recognise their status as workers. Without their labour, the university would not be able to function,’ said Associate Professor Anne Mulhall from the School of English, Drama and Film, speaking to the College Tribune.
“We have to come together with our colleagues. There is a vast inequality at the university, and very often our undergraduate students don’t realise that this is actually the case. There is a huge difference in what I am paid for my labour and what other people who are teaching then are paid for their labour.”
While the 19 unions involved in the Irish Congress of Trade Unions negotiations with the government suspended their strike yesterday, postgraduate researchers, who are not currently regarded as workers by the government, opted to continue. In an Instagram post, PWO president Eden Skehan noted that they will “largely be excluded from this deal, no matter what it brings”.
The protesters’ demands include recognition of worker status with employment rights, a living wage, access to public support, protection from unfair dismissal, transparent working conditions and for PhD years to count towards citizenship.
Speaking to the College Tribune, PWO Vice President Cathal Ó Faoláin said: “Our stipend has fallen €4,432 below minimum wage and is going to fall even lower again in January. None of us wants to be here. Our living costs have jumped, but there is no plan to address this.”
“This is rare within the EU. The EU framework for Research Careers, which was announced in 2023, states that every researcher, including PhD researchers, should be given full employment rights with full access to social protections. We have neither employment rights nor the social protections that come with them, and that’s why we are out here.”
Ó Faoláin also spoke on the demand for PhD years to count towards citizenship. He explained that many postgraduate researchers are “experts who come from around the world and their years doing their PhD do not count towards citizenship, which means at minimum they will need to be in Ireland for twelve years before they can even apply for citizenship, sometimes up to 17 years if they have done an undergraduate or master’s here.”
When asked what the next step was for the PWO, Ó Faoláin said: “We will regroup and decide what action we can take to minimise disruption to the students who have already been disrupted, unfortunately, two Wednesdays in a row, but also to show the university that we’re really struggling and make our voice heard before it disappears.”
By Aisling Murphy, Sophie Gliott and Ellena Brady