The president of NUI Galway has rejected claims by a trade union that discrimination against women continues to exist at every level of the university.
Jim Browne said he has “no evidence” that discrimination is widespread within NUIG.
He was responding to SIPTU vice-president, Gene Mealy, who wrote to Mr Browne in January in relation to gender discrimination and “related precarious working conditions at NUIG”.
In the letter, Mr Mealy reiterated the position of his members and representatives in NUIG that “widespread problems of discrimination persist across all grades of staff within the university”.
He said there has been a “proliferation of precarious employment contracts which we believe are inherently discriminatory”.
Mr Mealy said his members have advised that the problems “are a symptom of a management style” which has contributed to two recent decisions of the Equality Tribunal “which found against management practices and remains unresolved.”
In response, Mr Browne said he has “no evidence of the validity of the assertion you make in your letter that ‘widespread discrimination persists across all grades of staff in the university’.”
Mr Browne said: “I regret the assertion, and I must reject it in the strongest possible terms. I strongly urge SIPTU, and particularly your members in Galway, to bring any evidence of discrimination to the attention of our director of HR and organisational development, Mr Chris McNairney. I am sure he will investigate them thoroughly and professionally.”
Mr Browne said the issue of gender equality is “top of the university’s agenda”, and that NUIG is “determined to be leaders in gender equality into the future”.
SIPTU had asked for an independent equality review to be undertaken, and failing that, for the matter to be dealt with at the Workplace Relations Commission, formerly Labour Relations Commission.
Mr Mealy said NUIG management’s failure to use the industrial relations machinery of the state was “unacceptable and further exacerbates the difficulties”.
Mr Browne said NUIG established a gender equality taskforce last year, and he said it was “unfortunate” that SIPTU “felt it was not able to engage” with the taskforce.
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