Academics at NUI Galway get pay increase reinstated

Associate professors at NUI Galway have had an increase in pay reinstated following a ruling of the Labour Court.

The case before the court involved a dispute between NUI Galway, represented by IBEC, and academic staff, represented by SIPTU, in relation to the pay of associate professors.

SIPTU argued that a long established link exists between the salary paid to professors and those to their juniors, associate professors.

When the salary scale of professors was adjusted from an eight-point scale to a six-point scale, it resulted in a pay increase for the professor grade.

The increases also applied to the associate professor grade but the employer, NUI Galway, contended that the increase in the associate professor grade was done “in error and without the appropriate sanction”.

SIPTU rejected NUIG’s argument on the basis that the link between professors’ and associate professors’ pay was established.

The dispute couldn’t be resolved locally and went to a full hearing of the Labour Court, which issued its findings this week.

 For more on this story, see today’s Connacht Sentinel