November 11, 2022 at 4:20 pm
MUT reaction to UPE statement on the Institute for Tourism Studies – UPE failing to get academics’ support and reissues the same directives in a state of panic
After failing to get ITS lecturers to follow their illegal directives, UPE announced today that they shall be initiating directives whilst failing to mention that their directives have been in place for several days and were followed by less than a handful of staff.
The UPE is issuing directives across the board as if it represents the collective membership at ITS when this is not the case. The MUT is the sole recognised union for academic staff at ITS and holds ongoing meetings with management to safeguard the interests of its members. Directives issued by UPE at ITS are illegal as they tackle collective matters and not individual ones. Furthermore, they amount to strike, leaving the handful of lecturers following such directives at great risk.
The quoted reference by UPE in the MUT-ITS collective agreement, which regulates unannounced industrial action, is not at all unconstitutional, because contrary to what UPE seems to be stating, it regulates both the trade union and employer in addressing their differences through social dialogue measures before resorting to respective actions. The same clause has been in place for years and is found in most collective agreements of trade unions. It is clear that in a state of panic, UPE resorts to all measures to provide misinformation to justify its operations.
