Research staff gain job security at Robert Gordon University

5 June 2002

The AUT has made a major breakthrough in its fight against casualisation in partnership with Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.

From 1 August 2002 the university will use open ended 'Academic Research Staff' terms and conditions for all researchers. The term 'Contract Research Staff' and the associated insecurity and low status will become past history.

The new agreement was launched on 29 May in the presence of Scotland's Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning, Iain Gray.

The AUT will now be promoting the RGU breakthrough and encouraging other universities to work in partnership with their local AUT to develop comparable agreements. We are also considering all potential avenues for lobbying for wider governmental and political support for the drive to eliminate casualisation and achieve job security for all university staff.

For further information please contact Tony Axon.

Note:

As Robert Gordon University is a post 1992 University in Scotland, these terms were modelled as closely as possible on the 'HE 2000' contract for academic staff recently introduced in that sector.

The underlying principles contained in the agreement include open ended in place of fixed term contracts, a flexible rather than narrow description of the job with an agreed balance of duties for each researcher, intensive consultation and careers support to avoid redundancies, the right of researchers where feasible to apply for grants and act as Principal Investigators, parity of status and of most terms and conditions of employment with lecturing staff.

The agreement is therefore capable of adaptation to relate to academic staff conditions in other universities.

• RGU joint statement on academic research contracts (.html) (.html) [7kb]
• Robert Gordon University - Academic Research Staff sample contract (.pdf) (.pdf) [266kb]
• Robert Gordon University - Academic Research Staff sample contract (.rtf) (.rtf) [162kb]