LCR22747

1. Academic calendar – Student Reading / Professional Development Week.

BACKGROUND:

2. This dispute could not be resolved at local level and was the subject of Conciliation Conferences under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission. As agreement was not reached, the dispute was referred by the parties to the Labour Court on 11 January 2023 in accordance with Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. A Labour Court hearing took place on 27 April 2023.

UNION'S ARGUMENTS:

• • Management has failed to abide by agreements in place which provide for alignment of the Professional Development Week with the dates of the primary/post-primary school mid-term break in February of each year.
  • The Professional Development Week has historically been aligned to the primary and post-primary level mid-term break. In February 2023 the Professional Development Week was not aligned to the mid-term break at post-primary sector.
  • A ballot of SETU Waterford TUI members resulted in 81% of members voting in favour of engaging in Industrial action. The issue remains unresolved.

  • The Union seeks that Management abide by agreements in place and ensure the scheduling of the Professional Development Week in February of each year to reduce the burden on members with school age children, as was always intended.

• • Management has not breached any collective agreement (from the former WIT) and is committed to adhering to collective agreements in place. Agreements in place state that the Student Reading /Professional Development Week be aligned to the mid-term of the primary and secondary schools, as far as possible.
  • For pedagogical reasons the week should fall in weeks 6-8 to enable student achievement. It is not always possible to schedule the week to align with the 1st and 2nd level mid-term break.
  • The Student Reading /Professional Development week has no impact on the terms and conditions of academic staff. It is not a week off given that it is a professional development week for all staff.
  • The purpose of an academic calendar is to structure teaching, learning and assessment time. With the establishment of SETU in 2022, dialogue is required across campuses on the development of a SETU Academic Calendar.
  
  

This matter comes before the Court as a joint referral by the parties under Section 26(1) of the Industrial Relations Act, 1990. The parties have asked the Court to investigate a dispute between SETU and the Waterford Branch of the TUI in relation to the scheduling of the Student Reading / Professional Development Week within the Academic calendar.

In assisting parties to reach a resolution in a trade dispute, the Labour Court operates as a Court of last resort and works on the basis that all internal processes have been fully exhausted by the parties, and matters arising in relation to that dispute have been fully ventilated.

In that context, it is a matter of considerable concern to the Court that there appears to be significant disparities between the parties about what was or was not discussed during local level engagements. The Union submits that Management has failed to provide any evidence of pedagogical reasons to support scheduling the Professional Reading Week outside the mid-term break at primary and post-primary level. Management categorically refutes that assertion and submits that clear pedagogical reasons for moving the Professional Reading Week in February 2023 were shared with the union.

The Court notes that proposed Academic Calendars for the forthcoming three years has been shared with the Union, and that in two of those three years it is proposed that the Professional Development Week align with the dates of the primary/post-primary school mid-term break in February of each year.

In all of the circumstances, the Court recommends that the parties return to their agreed dispute resolution procedure and engage effectively with a view to reaching agreement on the proposed academic calendar. That engagement should be underpinned by full consultation on the rationale behind the scheduling proposal so as to allow a comprehensive and sound assessment of the matter by the parties.

The Court so recommends.

	Signed on behalf of the Labour Court
	Katie Connolly
3 May, 2023	______________________
CO'R	Deputy Chairman