Galway Bay fm newsroom - The Galway Postgraduate Worker’s Alliance has voiced its anger at the removal of researcher’s workspaces from a building in NUIG.
According to the group, in November researchers from the Hardiman Research Building were ordered to removal their belongings from the campus due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The Galway PGWA argues the assigned desks were the only stable workspaces for researchers on the campus and the decision to move them came at the end of difficult semester and without proper consultation.
The group also argues that the provision of adequate workspaces by the University is a stipulation of most scholarships.
They say the move has reversed a previous decision to keep researchers’ materials in place during a time of great difficulty and uncertainty.
The group has described the decision as flawed - adding it lacked inclusivity and was poorly communicated.
It’s understood that after extensive complaints following the introduction of the University’s reopening plans, earlier this year, NUIG invited eight researchers to engage in a meeting on the matter.
The Galway PWGA argues this move towards inclusion in decision-making was deficient for several reasons, including because PhD researchers were notified less than a week before and only knew the meeting’s date and time less than two days before it was held.
The group says it remains available to engage in open dialogue in order to find a more appropriate solution to the research building reopening.
NUIG has not responded to a request for a statement on the matter to date.
