Move to new DCU library held up over pay claim

A new £17.5 million state-of-the-art library at Dublin City University may go unused for the forthcoming academic year after library staff and management failed to agree on a pay claim.

The university's new president, Prof Ferdinand von Prondzynski, said yesterday he felt unable to move materials from the old library to the new facility in time for the new academic term.

"We have reached a point where the move is no longer feasible," he said.

The new library was designed to cater for students, staff, the local community and DCU's private-sector partners. The facility is three times the size of the existing library on campus and has 1,500 reader places and over 450 PCs, as opposed to 70 in the current building.

The university secretary, Mr Martin Conry, said half the money for the library came from the State, with the DCU Educational Trust contributing the remainder, which included a contribution from Dr Tony O'Reilly.

The problem began when DCU refused to accept a SIPTU pay claim lodged in March. Prof von Prondzynski said the librarians' demands could not be met because they breached the terms of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF).

"There have been some negotiations between staff and the university about terms of employment but we have not be able to reach an agreement," he said. "The university has made every concession possible within the terms of the PPF."

DCU management undertook a review of staff structures and resources, and of pay grades and scales in other universities.

The president, who took up his post last month, said the terms of the resulting management offer were at least as good as those offered to librarians at other university libraries in the country. "If we were to go beyond that we would break the terms of the agreement," he said.

The offer was rejected by library staff, and further discussions and proposals proved unsuccessful. The offer is currently subject to internal discussion.

Prof von Prondzynski said: "Unless something changes in that scenario it does increasingly look that we will not be able to make the move. I can't authorise the move."

He said the stock from the old library should have been transferred to the new facility at the end of last week to ensure the new library was operating in time for the next academic year.

A SIPTU representative, Mr Brendan Hayes, rejected Prof von Prondzynski's claim that the union offer conflicted with the terms of the PPF and called on college authorities to implement the original pay claim as soon as possible.

"We didn't create this crisis," he said. "The college is to blame for the way in which it has handled the matter and its delay in addressing the claim.

"The college has a role to play, and part of that role is to introduce proper staffing and pay strategies.

"The staff are extremely committed individuals who are anxious to move in and get on with developing the library."

However, Mr Hayes said their pay and career prospects did not compare to those of staff in libraries of comparable size throughout the country.

"Rather than engaging in a PR battle to try to mislead students and the public, it would be far better for the university to engage in serious discussions with staff and ourselves to resolve the problem," he said.