Trade union membership declining sharply, conference of university teachers union told
Trade unions must adapt to meet the needs of young people in order to survive, the head of the organisation representing university teachers has said., general secretary of the Irish Federation of University Teachers , told its annual conference at the weekend that young people had grown up largely in the generation where union membership was “simply not the norm”.
“OECD figures suggest Ireland’s union membership figures dropped to between 23 per cent and 27 per cent in 2016, depending on the data used, from 36 per cent in 2010. Ms Donegan said IFUT’s membership continued to grow. She said one reason for this was that the organisation gave priority to focusing on the issue of precarious employment in higher education.
“The key is to focus on those workers whose very marginalisation keeps them out of union membership. Information is so poor that we do not even know how many staff are precariously employed in our universities.She said trade unions must speak and “more importantly, listen to these workers in their language, not in the often very, very staid language of the branch committee meeting or minutes”.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Investigation after young men with special needs seen wandering down busy road“They could easily have been killed or injured were it not for a quick-thinking security guard who works at the local shops and spotted them'
Read more »
Politicians urged to honour eight surviving Jadotville soldiers before they dieThe brave Irish men held off rebel forces for six days in the Congo in 1961
Read more »
Unions attempt to squeeze Government on pay and productivityConcessions to nurses on foot of their strike earlier this year has encouraged unions to move
Read more »
Union seeks talks on reducing public service working hoursFórsa disputes Government’s claim removing extra hours would cost about €600m a year
Read more »