In recent weeks, the first negotiation meeting was held between Aran and trade unions for the renewal of the 2022/2024 national collective agreement for the Education and Research sector. Roughly 1,300,000 employees from schools, universities, research and Afam are awaiting the renewal of the contract, which has been expired for years.
During the meeting, no specific issues were discussed. However, the trade unions denounced the government’s grave responsibility for dismissing the triennial direction act, which had been expired for a long time. This situation has severely tested the purchasing power of the wages of the sector’s workers.
According to the trade unions, the demands at the negotiating table will include extension of rights for temporary staff, wage increases, strengthening of the role of national and workplace supplementary bargaining, enhancement of all skills, and rejection of any proposal for work hierarchy and other performance-related rewards. This discussion arises in a context where the buying power of workers’ wages has been severely tested.
No specific topics were addressed during the discussion, but the trade unions did express their dissatisfaction with the government’s significant failure in not renewing the expired triennial directive. This has resulted in a challenging context for the education and research sector’s workforce.
The primary demands from the collective presenting the case include improved rights for temporary staff, an increase in salaries, a bolstering in the standing of national integrative bargaining, and all-around workplace enhancement. The unions also expressed the need for the recognition of all professions within the sector and rejection of any form of work hierarchy and other performance-related benefits. The unions are asserting the rights and needs of the staff they represent, hoping for positive results from these negotiations.
