Galway Bay fm newsroom - NUI Galway's Postgraduate Workers Alliance has launched a petition calling for a fairer working environment in the university.
The group says the university is increasingly reliant on precarious and, often unpaid, labour from PhD and Post-Doctoral researchers for its teaching needs.
The Postgraduate Workers' Alliance at NUI Galway claims that the university's over reliance on contracted and temporary staff for essential student services endangers academic excellence and has detrimental effects on both staff and students at all levels.
PGWA also argues that some researchers can barely support themselves on the scholarship grants they receive, while being over-burdened to meeting teaching requirements.
It says its members have also been excluded from meetings on how to reopen the university post-Covid 19.
The group has issued a list of demands to address its concerns including fair payment for all teaching and related academic duties and for clear governance and transparency in decision making and implementing changes.
It also states that PhD researchers should not be compelled to take on teaching duties, regardless of funding status.
