r/UCD • u/donn1418 • 7d ago
Question Strike Day
All on site learning activities are cancelled on Wednesday as everyone knows. However one of my lecturers is doing their lecture via zoom on Wednesday. Is this allowed as I thought it was against the rules of the union
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u/BiohazardousBisexual 7d ago
If they aren't part of the union they aren't obligated to; many were planning on recording and uploading it online for that reason. I think the bigger issue would be if it afouls the University's plan for canceling classes.
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u/Dry_Butterscotch9964 7d ago
Directions to staff have been that online lectures are allowed, but all onsite teaching is cancelled. Not sure if this reconciles with what students have been told.
Correct as well that non union members are not obligated to strike or cancel classes/assessment. However many (most?) are choosing to do so anyway.
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u/Early_Beyond1728 7d ago
Not sure this is accurate .. directions to staff is to create asynchronous material or provide a reading to make up for lost lecture time
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u/Dry_Butterscotch9964 7d ago
The most recent communication I received as staff states “Module coordinators in discussion with those delivering teaching may decide to inform students directly that specific classes will be delivered online”. The email I have received from head of school confirms the same.
Staff have been asked to minimise disruptions to students. No further direction has really been given beyond that through any comms I’ve received. Individual schools/subjects may be different.
Also worth noting that the union has asked its members not to “recreate work withdrawn as part of this [strike] action”. So cancelled lectures/assessments etc may not be rescheduled at all.
So based on staff comms online lectures are explicitly allowed. There’s no university wide policy cancelling these.
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u/Early_Beyond1728 6d ago
“Explicitly allowed” eh not my reading on it .. no communication from any UCD school/college has stated that online classes should take place
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u/Early_Beyond1728 6d ago
I should also state here if you are part of IFUT then you should not deliver an online class as you are withdrawing your services .. if you are not then .. hey feel free to “pass the picket” and teach
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u/Dry_Butterscotch9964 6d ago
I’m not really sure what you’re getting at here. I’m just relaying what staff have been told so there is transparency. The original comment said there was a university plan to cancel classes - from all communication I have had online classes are allowed if the module coordinator wants to. Not that they should happen, but that they can happen. It’s each module coordinators choice, depending on union membership. I’m not sure it’s a choice I would make but one they have a right to nonetheless.
You’ve then responded with a comment which does not reflect what academic staff have been sent or what is still in live communications from UCD. If I’ve missed something please point me in the right direction rather than implying I’m a scab. Anyway, if in IFUT, additional reading/asynchronous material should not be delivered or offered as stated by the Union.
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u/Standard_Power135 7d ago
He obviously isnt in a union.
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u/AshleyG1 7d ago
Hope these strike breakers need the union at some point in the future.
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u/Fair_Leader163 6d ago
We won’t. Cause they’re awful and useless
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u/AshleyG1 5d ago
Yeah, ‘course they are.
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u/BrighterColours 4d ago
As an admin person currently out of work from the university sector, my union was absolutely fucking useless everytime I went to them for support.
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u/Fair_Leader163 5d ago
They are. Go read what people have to say about them and you’ll see what people really think
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u/SpoonChem 7d ago
lol, are you really trying to out your lecturer for doing everything they can to minimise disruption to their students and trying to make sure you still get your education delivered that you or your parents paid for
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u/Early_Beyond1728 7d ago
Lol are you trying to legitimise breaking a picket because you’re afraid of a little bit of disruption..
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u/SpoonChem 6d ago
I didn't say that at all actually
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u/Then_Astronaut9727 6d ago
Yes, you did, you actually did.
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u/SpoonChem 6d ago
no
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u/Ambitious_Front_2857 6d ago
I mean, he kinda are legitimising passing the picket. The instruction from the union is clear, don’t make alternative arrangements for your lectures, doing so is passing the picket
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u/Background-Arm3625 3d ago
Is it possible he is not in the union? I'm sure it is.
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u/Ambitious_Front_2857 3d ago
It doesn’t matter if you’re in a union or not. Breaking the picket applies to everyone
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u/Then_Astronaut9727 6d ago
A scab is a scab
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u/broken_neck_broken 5d ago
Ode To A Scab
After God had finished the rattlesnake, the toad, and the vampire, He had some awful substance left with which He made a scab. A scab is a two-legged animal with a corkscrew soul, a waterlogged brain, and a combination backbone made of jelly and glue. Where others have hearts, he carries a tumor of rotten principles.
When a scab comes down the street, men turn their backs and angels weep in heaven, and the devil shuts the gates of hell to keep him out. No man has a right to scab as long as there is a pool of water deep enough to drown his body in, or a rope long enough to hang his carcass with. Judas Iscariot was a gentleman compared with a scab. For betraying his Master, he had character enough to hang himself. A scab hasn't.
Esau sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. Judas Iscariot sold his savior for thirty pieces of silver. Benedict Arnold sold his country for a promise of a commission in the British Army. The modern strikebreaker sells his birthright, his country, his wife, his children, and his fellow men for an unfulfilled promise from his employer, trust, or corporation.
- Jack London
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u/angacitoeire 7d ago
Very fair and valid point!
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u/Ambitious_Front_2857 7d ago
Not really, colleague passing the picket isn’t fair or valid.
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u/Bibi_Xanom 6d ago
It is called breaking the picket lines, either online or offline. And most probably they are not a union member, don’t care about the strike, and need to keep their face among their colleagues. But re rules, there is no rules when it comes to strikes, it is just a collective action based on a group’s consensus.
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u/PalladianPorches 6d ago
this isnt crossing any linethough. this is someone who, by consensus, is working around a union’s action, not crossing it.
this isnt a paper mill or mine, it’s a class.
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u/gash_florden 6d ago
It is crossing the picket line and being a scab. The picket is not just a physical location. A strike is a mandate to not provide any work.
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u/PalladianPorches 6d ago
i mean, its both within the employment rights law, and ucd’s own directive:
Module coordinators in discussion with those delivering teaching may decide to inform students directly that specific classes will be delivered online.
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u/Barilla3113 7d ago
Non-union workers can't be forced to comply with union strike orders. Lots of legal precident.
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u/DisagreeableYoghurt 7d ago
We know what they are. Someone doing fine with zero solidarity to those below them
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u/DisagreeableYoghurt 7d ago
Not being a member of a union doesn't mean strike breaking is ok. They're the worst actually
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u/Background-Arm3625 3d ago
Why are they? Why does it make it problem in the long run? What if they are happy with their own pay and work space?
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u/wurzlitzer 7d ago
But non union members will probably offer on line lecture as they will not pass a picket line. In other words public servants who are not part of the union have been recommended to work from home where possible so as not to pass a picket line. As it is uncomfortable for anyone not in the union to do so
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u/sarahCJ453 7d ago
That is still crossing a picket, just doing it in the hope your colleagues don't see.
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u/PalladianPorches 6d ago
do you not get that your private picket isn’t always applicable to others. an individual can’t just claim to be on strike, and everyone drops their tools in support - they have to get consensus. most people respect this, and thats what make these - especially public service - strikes work. but others don’t have to support you (especially if they are not a member of your paricular club)
its not a scab if you are going to work cleaning for minimum wage to support a lecturer wanting €100k.
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u/AdStrange9701 5d ago
I was raised to never cross a picket line, whether it's for/i am lecturers on 100k or a cleaner on 20k.
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u/PalladianPorches 5d ago
for a start lecturers who are working (because they are not members of these unions), are not crossing their peers picket line - they are working around it.
secondly, it's a futile strike - as most public service strikes are. they've already agreed whatever is needed, and just showing the civil servants what they can do.
the nurses strike is the one that should be getting attention, but no one - especially not the lecturers in ucd - minds when nurses go back to their stations (past the picket lines) looking after their relatives
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u/AdStrange9701 5d ago
Anyone working during a strike is a scab. And nurses get derogations to ensure patients are cared for.
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u/PalladianPorches 5d ago
is it a rule or not?
so do the private contractors on minimum wage, genuinely struggling, not get a derogation? you really expect that thosands of people struggling with poverty should be out of pocket to prevent hurting the feelings of someone on €65k having to do PE 1 day a week. And thats what you think “militant socialism” is? gtf!
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u/sarahCJ453 6d ago
Your comment doesn't make sense. If you are going to get the collective pay rise, then you should join your colleagues on strike. The national pay agreement applies to all public sector workers...
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u/PalladianPorches 5d ago
the people that are stopping for crossing are the ones outside the scope of all these pay deals. having a hard "we're on strike, and we'll get a big payday - but you won't... but SCAB!" is unfair, not truly in the spirit of collective agreements, especially when most employees of UCD (and others) are not members of these unions by choice, and won't get the benefits of losing a days pay.
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u/alancb13 6d ago
It's a bit strange though since most other public sector staff have been told no WFH or leave on that day
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u/Abiwozere 4d ago
Quinn business school? When I was there years ago there was a strike that pretty much all the Quinn lecturers went ahead with lectures (except HR lecturers)
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u/Jacksonriverboy 6d ago
Not all lecturers are in the union. Strike action only applies to union members and only union members are protected by law for going on strike. I'd assume he's non-union and is just showing up for work as he's entitled to do.
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u/Main-Criticism5687 6d ago
Entitled?
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u/Jacksonriverboy 6d ago
Yes. As in, he's under no obligation to not present for work if he's not in a union.
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u/Common-Regret-4120 5d ago
It's appropriate for non-union employees to work regularly scheduled hours. They do not have legal protection to strike. Employees have been fired for this in Ireland. Being a scab is accepting overtime or unscheduled work during a protest, as it takes the pressure of the protest off the employer.
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u/Purtillion 5d ago
Just do the zoom and dont question it. You paid for your tuition (i hope) so you should just not say anything.
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u/HopefulKangaroo 7d ago
They may not be part of any union