Tartu Ülikooli Ametiühingu missioon on oma liikmete tööalaste, majanduslike ja sotsiaalsete õiguste ning huvide eest seismine. Koostöös Tartu Ülikooliga soovime muuta paremaks töötajate ja üliõpilaste töö- ning õppetingimusi. Missiooni ja visiooni täitmiseks on Tartu Ülikooli Ametiühingu delegatsioon teinud visiite TÜ instituutidesse igal aastal. Oleme arutanud ülikooli töötajatega mitmeid töökorralduse küsimusi ning toonud need esile kohtumistel ja aruteludel ülikooli juhtkonnaga. Mitmed töötajate poolt varem välja toodud probleemid ja kitsaskohad on leidnud TÜ juhtkonna poolt mõistmist ja ka vähemalt osalise lahenduse.

 

 

Tartu Ülikooli Ametiühingu saavutused koos teiste Eesti ülikoolide ametiühingutega  

 

All employees of the University of Tartu (both academic and non-academic), as well as doctoral students, master’s students, and retired employees can become members of the Tartu University Faculty Association.

Role of the University of Tartu Faculty Association (UTFA)

In partnership with the University of Tartu, the UTFA works towards the overall improvement of the university, both as a workplace and as a whole. With good communication, the UTFA aims to achieve improvements which are to the satisfaction of all involved.
The UTFA stands up for the wellbeing and the rights of its members, as well as those of the University of Tartu’s other employees. The UTFA engages on both a collective and a personal level, taking into account that the employee is often more vulnerable than the employer in a working relationship.
The UTFA intends to be involved in the decisions made at the University of Tartu. By extension, it intends to be involved in education policy in more general terms, with the aim of ensuring the quality and sustainability of education and research in Estonia.

University of Tartu Collective Agreement

The Collective Agreement is a voluntary agreement between the employees and the employer, which regulates the labour relations and applies to all employees of the University. The collective agreement is an integral part of every employee’s employment contract.

The overall aim of the Collective Agreement is to motivate University of Tartu employees and to ensure their workplace satisfaction. The Collective Agreement also addresses other aspects of the relationship between the University of Tartu and the UTFA, such as the ways in which employees and the UTFA are to be involved in future decision-making.

The most important aspects of the 2018 agreement were that the collective agreement protected all the benefits offered by the university to its employees (something better than just statutory kompensation for periods of illness) and the inclusion of the UTFA in the university’s workflow. The work stream is the forum where all internal university issues of legislation are discussed during the drafting phase and where interested parties can express their views. The UTFA has actively used this opportunity over the past years, and by participating in the working stream, UTFA members have gained a better understanding of what is happening at the University and have developed a channel for expressing their views on internal University legislation affecting their working life.

New elements that have been written into the collective agreement of 5 December 2022:

  *   Good will to achieve wage stability for academic staff
(mentioning in particular bridge funding).
  *   At least 35 days of leave for all staff members
  *   Three working days a year for all employees to do charity work
  *   If there is a single working day between a public holiday and the weekend, employees are given the day off with pay.

It is very important that the university recognises that for its (academic) staff, the highest source of concern and stress is related to salary and job security. Here an extract from the news on the UT’s internal website about the signing of the collective agreement:

Both the union and the university management consider it important to reduce the insecurity of academic staff in employment relations due to funding and are working to increase public funding for higher education. In recent years, the university has created temporary facilities through bridge funding in order to ensure the sustainability of research activities in the institutes when ETAG (Estonian Research Agency) research grants come to an end. In the Collective Agreement, the University pledged to continue to create such opportunities.

The good will expressed in the agreement to reduce the uncertainty arising from project-based funding for academic staff is a priority for the University of Tartu Faculty Association. It is necessary to achieve a situation in which academic staff with a doctorate degree has a minimum grade salary independent of projects, and therefore a social debate on the issue of university funding is of particular importance.

Cross-sectoral cooperation regarding the funding of research and higher education

The UTFA cooperates with the faculty associations of other universities, as well as with sectoral and cross-sectoral unions.
The UTFA and the Factulty Association of the Estonian University of Life Sciences organised a warning strike in front of the Ministry of Education and Research in Tartu on the 5th of  June 2019,  to demand an increase of the salary for academic staff members and the fulfilment of the Science Agreement of Estonia (Teaduslepe).  Over two hundred staff and students from the University of Tartu and the University of Life Sciences participated in the strike. The aim was to achieve a pay raise for academic employees, as well as to demand the honouring of the  Science Agreement of Estonia, in which research funds equating to 1% of GDP had been agreed.

The UTFA provides input to the Estonian legislation in working on the draft for the Research, Development and Innovation Act of the Republic of Estonia in order to ensure salary security for academic staff members. The UTFA has written articles in the press on academic staff salary and job security.

Visits to the various institutes of the University of Tartu to introduce the joint contract and to invite employees to join the Tartu University Faculty Association

What is needed are strong trade unions with a large membership, concentrated at the sector level. Only then will it be possible to create a situation in which the concerns of the academy cannot be ignored and demands must be taken into account. An action at the sector level is needed, because funding comes first and foremost from the state.

Salary, stability, and academic freedom! This requires hard work. The first and easiest step is to become a member of the Tartu University Faculty Association.

Achievements of the Tartu University Faculty Association together with the trade unions of other universities of Estonia

  *   Rising public awareness of a need for job and salary stability for the staff of universities (articles and presentations in media)

  * The entry into force of the Estonian Science Agreement, which was strongly contributed to by the warning strike in front of the Ministry of Education and Research in Tartu and the Government in Tallinn on 5 June 2019 to demand a pay rise for academic staff and compliance with the Estonian Science Agreement.

  *   Establishment of the Estonian Education Pact – A social pact to secure the development and sustainability of education in Estonia with the following main requirements:
1) The signing parties support an increase in state funding of both higher education and the salary fund for teachers in general education to at least 1.5% of gross domestic product, and to maintain funding at at least the same level;
2) Together with sustainable funding, the parties are convinced that free higher education in Estonian is a public good to which free access must be guaranteed;
3) The increase in public funding must ensure motivating working conditions for all education staff (including job and salary stability) and that work tasks fit within statutory working time.

Achievements of the Tartu University Faculty Association at the University of Tartu

  * Raising awareness of the issue of job security and salary stability of academic staff members, as well as the correct payment of salaries from external funding, at the level of the UT management.

  * More correct use of work-related contracts at the University of Tartu. Thanks to the attention of the Tartu University Faculty Association, the Human Resources Department has created the relevant internal website material. See https://siseveeb.ut.ee/et/tugitegevused/lepingute-s%C3%B5lmimise-juhend

  * Addressing the need for equal opportunities in the use of health promotion funds at the University of Tartu.

  * Equal treatment in the length of leave for employees. Previously, employees doing the same job received less leave than others, but now all University of Tartu employees have at least 35 days of leave. In total, the leave of about 1100 University staff has been extended.

  * Helping to address administrative bottlenecks (security issues, fair and equal treatment at work).

  * Paid days off for charity with the prior agreement of the immediate organiser of the work.

Current activities of the Tartu University Faculty Association

The Tartu University Faculty Association is a valuable partner of the University of Tartu. It raises urgent issues and is involved in important decision-making at the university. The Tartu University Faculty Association offers its members the opportunity to participate in these processes.

 

The Tartu University Faculty Association is currently discussing issues related to the administration of the Vice Rector of Studies, and we would very much welcome input from your institute’s lecturers.