Date: Thursday, March 23, 2023
Start: 2 p.m., end approx. 5.30 p.m.
Meeting point: Sigmund-Freud-Park (opposite the main building of the University of Vienna), demo route: main building of the University of Vienna > Ministry of Science > Michaelerplatz > TU Vienna
+++ The demo will take place in the context of a public “Betriebsversammlung” of the scientific staff of the University of Vienna. Teaching and work may be cancelled. +++
The framework and working conditions for temporary employees of universities – about 80% of the scientific staff in Austria – were already anything but good before 2021! The amendment to the UG and its interpretation at the universities made things even worse. All the supposed goals of the law reform – to create more permanent positions, to bring about an improvement in teaching, etc. – have failed. On the contrary, the poorly executed amendment has caused collateral damage to teaching, research, and the personal biographies of many deserving employees. Teaching can already no longer be carried out in many cases, at the University of Vienna alone, 58 research projects have been cancelled and colleagues write to us that they are “facing the shards of their professional existence”.
Both the responsible minister and the rectorates close their eyes to the immediate crisis and the long-term damage to the university system caused by short-sighted politics on the one hand and the narrow-minded interpretation of §109 at the respective universities on the other.
In our view, merely ‘repairing’ the law is not enough. We call for a fundamental reform of the university system. A reform, with which research and teaching at the universities are secured sustainably and in the long term! We demand that the drifting apart of teaching and research be stopped! We demand that experienced employees are not forced out of the university system, but on the contrary that experience and commitment are rewarded! We demand that good working conditions and diverse professional and career paths are finally created at the university! We demand democratic structures that make co-determination possible for ALL employees at the university as well as for students! For these goals, we want to take to the streets together on March 23, 2023, starting at 2 p.m. and call on members of all universities – that includes students! – to join us!
We are allowed to think another university!
Unterbau University of Vienna
NUWiss – Network Unterbau Wissenschaft
IG Lektor*innen
Unterbau TU Vienna