The Graduate Students’ Union (GSU) was tonight plunged into chaos as President Shaz Oye hit out at her vice-president, Gisèle Scanlon, after a public standoff between the pair at a meeting of postgraduates earlier this week.
Major cracks have appeared this week in the relationship between the two leaders – who were elected on a ticket to the two paid sabbatical positions in the GSU – with each airing public grievances about the other in the fallout from now-reversed pay cuts for casual staff.
In an interview with The University Times today, Oye expressed frustration at what she called a “spurious accusation” made by Scanlon at a town hall meeting on Wednesday night.
At the meeting, Scanlon cut across Oye as she discussed with postgraduates the hourly rate earned by PhD students on their stipends. When Oye struggled to name a figure, Scanlon asked: “Why don’t you know this?”, and added: “It’s extremely important for you to know that stuff.”
Today, Oye defended herself against Scanlon’s public challenge, made in a room of frustrated postgraduate students gathered to discuss pay cuts to the hourly teaching rate of casual staff.
Oye argued that some postgraduate students had struggled to identify what their stipend amounted to hourly. “It was quite clear that the PhDs who were there were themselves confused as to what they themselves were being paid per hour”, she said.
She said: “I thought therefore the accusation by anyone, any accusation by anyone, that – it was just a spurious accusation, it seemed to me. That’s all I can say about it.”
“I don’t understand why that accusation came forward in the way in which it did at that meeting. I am struggling with that.”
Asked if she felt that Scanlon’s accusation was unfair, Oye said she didn’t want to comment, but said: “She has her views on things, but I think what’s important, as I said at the outset, is that we present a united front.”
In an email statement to The University Times tonight, Scanlon said: “As my own record shows I work well with everyone to try and achieve the best outcome for students.”
She added: “I have shown commitment to student welfare and education on small and large issues from Free Hot Water and an overhaul of postgraduate spaces to the development of new ECT modules.”
“All of this I have achieved in a spirit of cooperation with others across Trinity College including students, professional and academic staff”, she said. “My priority is delivering for students, so please let’s not get distracted, let’s stay focused on the positive. I’m totally in support of the GSU President in her continued effort to unpick these revised rates in casual pay.”
The town hall, which took place on Wednesday night, was organised to discuss recently reversed cuts to postgraduate students’ casual pay. On Tuesday, almost 80 postgraduate students protested against the cuts outside House One – as the College’s Finance Committee met inside the building.
The pay cuts, first revealed by The University Times, saw some postgraduate students lose almost 20 per cent of the money they make from their teaching duties, and prompted widespread backlash.
After the meeting, two members of the Finance Committee confirmed to The University Times that the College would reverse the cuts pending discussion at the committee’s next meeting in February.
On Wednesday, in an interview with The University Times, Oye defended her role in the controversy, expressing “deep regret” at the “distress” caused to postgraduate students by the cuts while arguing it was not flagged as an issue with significant implications for students.
“The way in which it was listed for noting and approval suggests, and suggested then, that it was not an item of such import to the postgraduate community”, she said. “Clearly, it needed robust discussion, and indeed more discussion.”
Today, The University Times reported that Prof Neville Cox, Trinity’s dean of graduate studies, had come out in defence of Oye. In an email sent to postgraduate students yesterday, Cox hit out at “very unfair criticism” of Oye over the affair, adding that “I have nothing but sympathy for the GSU president”.
Cox praised the “excellent work of the presidents” of both the GSU and Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union after the pay cuts were reversed, and added: “I can categorically promise that I have never read all the papers for any meeting (and let’s be honest, I have no intention of doing so for any future meeting – life’s too short).”
