UL students union and researchers to stage walkout over pay and cost-of-living crisis

UL Postgraduate Students’ Union (ULPSU) and PhD researchers are set to stage a walkout in response to Budget 2024.

In response to the outcome of last week’s budget, they will walk out to the Plaza on University of Limerick’s campus, on Wednesday, October 25 at 12pm.

PhD researchers told ULPSU that they felt overlooked in the 2024 Budget, as they do not benefit from any of the increases made to minimum wage, the rent tax credit or the reduction in USC.

Decision made on upgrades to road used by hundreds of Limerick students daily

Following the budget, researchers were left uncertain about where they fit under the Department of Further and Higher Education’s plans for 2024.

Additionally, PhD researchers do not have paid sick leave or maternity/paternity leave, as they are not recognised as workers. This is despite being employed for demonstrating and teaching labs in their duties as researchers, as well as grading papers for undergraduate students. 

ULPSU said: “We fully support our PhD community and wish to express our solidarity with them and our disappointment in Budget 2024. The budget failed to address key issues that hugely affect PhD researchers and their ability to cope with the cost-of-living crisis.”

The Postgraduate Workers’ Organisation (PWO) found that PhDs spend approximately 60% of their income on rent. The Government’s Housing Agency has previously said that spending more than 40% of one’s income on rent is “unaffordable.”

According to ULPSU, the purpose of this walk-out is to make a statement to Minister Simon Harris and the Department of Further and Higher Education that more needs to be done on a national level to improve the lives of PhD researchers.

“We want Minister Harris to know that this treatment of PhDs has not gone unnoticed, and it will not go unchallenged. PhD researchers need to live, not just survive,” ULPSU concluded.