ODTÜ staff set up tent in front of rector’s office to protest cancellation of bus service
Several personnel of ODTÜ have set up a tent in front of the rector’s office to protest the cancellation of staff bus service during the summer period. They said that the university should instead cut back on unnecessary expenses if it is financially struggling.
Duvar English
The staff of Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ) have set up a tent in front of the rector’s office in protest of the cancellation of staff bus service during the summer period.
Several told daily Evrensel that such a move by the university management is their “red line.” “They are leaving us in the lurch. Then we are not doing our work; we are protesting,” one said.
The relevant personnel said that it takes two hours from her house to the university using public transportation. “We are coming from work tired anyway, and now we will be tired even before starting work...Our workload is heavy anyway, and the removal of our bus services has not helped,” she said.
She also said that ODTÜ management does not refrain from allocating budget when it comes to other issues and it was unfair to take back a given right.
Another staff said that the university has been generous when it comes to “unnecessary expenses” such as flowers planted on the road leading to the rector’s office. “So much money has been paid for these flowers. There are so many unnecessary expenses. Let them (the university) cut back on such expenses,” the staff said.