DkIT academics’ ballot for strike

ACADEMIC staff at Dundalk Institute of Technology will ballot for strike action this week in opposition to the underfunding of the IT sector.

According to union members at the college, DkIT has suffered a 36% cut in funding since 2007 while student numbers have risen by over 30% during the same period. Recruitment restrictions have also seen workloads intensify while staffing levels have dropped by 10%.

Members of the DkIT branch of the Teachers Union of Ireland decided last week to ballot on strike action in opposition to the funding crisis which has left staff, they claim, without vital classroom resources and laboratory equipment.

Kenneth Sloane, the Vice Chair of DkIT’s Teachers Union of Ireland branch said: ‘In December 2015, the DkIT branch commenced a campaign to highlight the difficulties our members were experiencing in continuing to deliver a high quality education service.

‘We visited Dáil Éireann and made clear the increasingly negative impact that austerity era cuts were having across the sector. Despite compliments from the region’s politicians on the excellent work DkIT does there has been no change in policy and Institutes of Technology throughout the country remain chronically underfunded. For this reason we are being compelled to consider strike action.’

If the union opts for strike, it will be the second at the college this year after staff joined the picket line in February.