Lecturers claim unfair treatment in Italy

Date: 30/05/02

EU EDUCATION ministers were today (30 May) facing demands to end alleged discrimination against foreign lecturers employed in Italian universities.

The lecturers say they have suffered years of unfair treatment at the hands of the authorities, receiving lower salaries and poorer conditions than their Italian counterparts.

As part of their long-running campaign for parity, they will meet Social Affairs Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou, MEPs and Italian Education Minister Letizia Moratti at today's Council of Ministers meeting in Brussels. Spearheading the campaign is Scotsman David Petrie, chairman of the trade union which represents the foreign lecturers.

He said the discrimination is continuing, despite four judgements in the European Court of Justice that found Italy guilty of breaking EU law.

Petrie said: 'For ten years we did up to 90 of the teaching and examining, then, when we invoked the EU law for parity of treatment with our Italian counterparts, we were hounded out of our jobs and into the European courts where we have over 1,000 cases pending.'

EU education ministers, meeting in Brussels on 30 May 2002, are facing demands to end alleged discrimination against foreign lecturers employed in Italian universities.