The Irish Federation of University Teachers was given leave by the High Court yesterday to seek orders quashing those parts of the report of the Public Service Benchmarking Body (PSBB) which make recommendations in relation to pay scales for IFUT members in the third-level sector.
IFUT claims that the disputed recommendations were made without any reasons or explanations and that the union is entitled as a matter of natural and constitutional justice to be furnished with reasons. It also argues that the recommendations are irrational and unjust.
The Benchmarking Body recommended that there should be salarly increases of 3 per cent for certain grades represented by IFUT, 6.1 per cent for other of its members and 11 per cent for other grades.
IFUT argues that no reasoning whatsoever was provided for the nature of the increases indicated. In particular, it claims, no rationale was set out for the fact that in respect of certain grades, such as senior lecturer at UCD, a 3 per cent rise is indicated whereas in respect of other grades such as assistant lecturer at UCD an 11 per cent increase is indicated.
IFUT says it has found 42 errors in the report, and even that list is not comprehensive.
It says reference was made to a non-existent 12-point scale of assistant lecturer and a non-existent three-point scale of lecturer above that at TCD. The first scale was awarded 11 per cent and the second 3 per cent. The absurd consequence of the confusion, it is submitted, was in fact that a person on the 12th point of the existing lecturer's scale, moving up to the 13th point, would be required to take a salary cut.
The IFUT president, Mr Patrick Burke, of St Patrick's College, Drumcondra, Dublin, said the failure to give reasons prejudiced all persons affected by the PSBB's recommendations. He said problems resulted from being unable to ascertain the basis for the recommendations.
In an affidavit read by Mr Eoghan Fitzsimons SC, Mr Burke said it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to establish a factual baseline or context within which to make a case for future salary increases in respect of any changes that might occur in relation to the given grades or comparators especially not knowing what the latter were, apart entirely from the question of accuracy and fairness of any comparators chosen.
IFUT represents grades in most of the universities but not staff at Dublin City University, the University of Limerick, the Institutes of Technology and the National College of Art.
Mr Burke said that, prior to benchmarking, special increases for university academics represented by IFUT operated according to the criterion of horizontal relativity with certain Civil Service grades.
IFUT's national council had met in July and concluded that the report was "an obscure piece of work which grossly undervalued university teachers for whom it was essentially unjust."
IFUT was particularly disappointed by the fact that there was a significant number of errors in the report.