IFUT has agreed on a protocol with the IUA on the implementation of the Report of the Expert Group on Fixed-Term and Part-Time Employment in Lecturing (the Cush Report).

IFUT is the only trade union to secure such an agreement which will cover the whole of the university sector.

The Cush Report contains seven important recommendations (which are now officially-endorsed decisions) which provide for radical improvements to the basic statutory provisions concerning the legal rights of fixed-term and part-time employees.

In general terms these changes bring about significant improvements in such areas as the number of years an employee must be in “precarious” employment before he/she has a right to a permanent job.  There are also significant improvements concerning the time periods for incrementally improved terms of employment to be made part of the permanent job contract.

The Cush Report also contains important clauses governing how disputes concerning non-implementation of its provisions should be dealt with by the individual universities.

The Cush Report arose from a claim lodged by IFUT during the course of the national public service pay talks for measures to be included in the Public Service Pay Agreement to tackle the serious problem of precarious employment in Higher Education in Ireland.

The fact that we have agreed on an implementation protocol with the IUA will significantly reduce the number of time-delaying complications which have been a factor militating against the efficient delivery of the improvements we negotiated nationally.

The existence of this important protocol is further evidence of IFUT’s proud status as the trade union which has prioritised more than any other the fight against the scourge of precariousness in Irish Higher Education.