UvA lecturers are tired of temporary contracts and stop grading
Several employees at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) have stopped checking to draw attention to the temporary contracts of junior lecturers. The promotion has been proclaimed by Casual UvA. Elmar Jansen has a permanent contract herself, but participates out of solidarity with colleagues. “It goes on continuously and is very annoying. Nice and good colleagues who have to leave again.”
Picture: Type tank
Last Friday announced action group Casual UvA takes up the censorship strike. About twenty lecturers from the beta-gamma program participate, and employees from other programs such as anthropology, sociology, political science, geography, Future Planet Studies and interdisciplinary studies have also joined.
Tenure
The final grades of students will not be entered in block 4 for the time being. The action is intended to stand up for the junior teachers who often work on a temporary contract. They are often employed for four years and then have to leave and apply for another university. That has to stop, says Casual UvA. The action group wants these teachers to get a permanent appointment, to invest in professional development and to be more open about the workload.
UvA lecturer Jansen teaches the science and social sciences program and is not checking for as long as necessary. He has had a permanent contract for six years - at a time when more was possible - but he knows what it is like to have no certainty. Jansen: “At that time I lost a lot of time collecting my 'job' and subjects. Time you don't invest in education. It gives peace of mind when you know that you can teach a subject for longer. Then you invest more in it. I also dare to indicate my limits better than my colleagues who do not have a permanent contract. They feel more vulnerable. I feel more connected and therefore more loyal. It's fine to go the extra mile every now and then, because I have the feeling: my employer chooses me. I am loyal to that.”
It gives you peace of mind if you know that you can give a course longer. Then you invest more in it
Now a lot of knowledge is lost because colleagues are forced to leave. “Every so often I have a whole new group of colleagues. And we rework it. This is not appropriate. Teaching is permanent work and colleagues function well. They must get a permanent contract. That also benefits the quality of education.”
CLA commitment
AObsector director Donald Pechler understands the call for permanent contracts. “We bet on more permanent jobs during the negotiations on the new collective labor agreement. In the current collective labor agreement we have taken steps for professors and support functions, now we want to extend this to lecturers and researchers. They should be given a permanent contract after one year if they perform well.”
The UvA's action can therefore count on the solidarity of the union. "Consistently not giving a permanent contract is contrary to the law and the European directive," says Pechler. "With structural work it is not the intention to fire people all the time, as is logical with seasonal work or about a project. Education is not a project.”
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