Anyone in the UCU?

[Closetlibrarian]

And striking at end of Feb?

I joined UCU after the last strike, so this will be my first. Even though I voted in favour it, I'm now in an utter quandary. I have an absolute monster of a semester coming up and I'm fretting about all the lectures, tutorials, etc, I'll have to cancel as part of the strike.

If you've gone on strike before how did you present it to your students so that they didn't just get really pissed off with you for cancelling lectures (that we're then, according to UCU, not supposed to reschedule)?

Also, how did you mange with the loss of income? I'm the 'breadwinner', so 14 days of strike action is going to massively impact us (i.e. I'm not sure we'll be able to pay our bills).

And yes totally agree with the point about being locked into posts. It’s much, much harder to leave an academic job to get away from a bully than it is to leave many other jobs.

I’ll stop now as I’m derailing. Sorry.

I don’t know if anyone else was on strike in my department, I did hear a rumour that one very senior prof. was intending to. The university was shut on Thursday and Friday so no way to pick up what had gone on. I did teleconference with a group of students yesterday and they didn’t seem to think there had been much disruption, though they are final year and mostly doing projects anyway. It feels a bit futile if nobody even notices, and hard not to resent those people who I know are union members. Some of them got considerable support from the union when a former HOD enthusiastically went along with a regrading process a few years ago. His first tactic was to visit his targets individually, out of the blue, and hand them a slip of paper with an HR contact who could “explain about voluntary severance “. I contacted HR only to be told that I couldn’t have a package because, according to the list, they thought I wanted to leave anyway. This time off has really made me question whether I want to carry on.

"BTW dealing with bullying and harassment in all university departments I have been in does involve HR support"

The HR support in our place is fucking awful.

There was recently a case of an academic sexually harassing a student. Instead of it being dealt with by HR, DH had to do it as prof who wasn't remotely involved with the department concerned. It as a huge amount of work - investigating, writing up, meetings, the actual disciplinary meeting with the person in question, a tribunal-type hearing. One really wonders what the fuck HR are for if academics end up having to do all this anyway. I mean, how can it take that many people to process payroll?!

My view is also coloured by the fact that our HR rep is about as useful and sharp as a slimy rotten bit of lettuce. She really is completely wet. No other word for it.

MadTea just don’t go to work, and join the picket line somewhere at your institution. You notify your manager on your first day back to work.

In my experience, which obviously colours what I’m saying here, bullying and harassment are not dealt with by HR. They are dealt with by peers and it’s just appalling.

Then you should get legal advice, from the union or elsewhere.

In general universities (and other big employers) are quite poor at ensuring that employment law is followed all the way down the organisation. It is likely that handing such issues without input from HR/legal services will lead to actions in violation of employment law.

And going back to the main point of this thread: many actions/threats from university senior management in the context of the ongoing action are either not legal or in a very grey area. For example, as people have pointed out above, no worker is obliged to give advance notice of striking (and pressuring people to do so is not legal). In my own university a number of legal issues have been raised about senior management's communications/actions.

One really wonders what the fuck HR are for if academics end up having to do all this anyway.

Indeed - and this is not just in academia. I have had guidance from our HR that I know contravenes employment law (I come from a family of barristers!).

But my points above still stand - the only way to change bad cultures in academia is by challenging them. If universities are dealing with serious disciplinary issues badly and without legal guidance, then complaints have to be filed, via the union or otherwise, to force changes.

HR are there to protect employers, largely. In my experience our HR take it beyond this to what seems at times like open aggression towards academics. Part of the reason I’m thinking about throwing in the towel is that I can’t face another round of REF related threats.

I have had advice from the union and it was absolutely useless. That’s why I want properly trained HR people, not academics, not unions reps. I have met some and that’s how I know they exist! Just not in my university.

Agog at St Andrews statement that equality and diversity initiatives could be under threat if pension reforms don’t go through. I thought these VCs and senior managers were supposed to be clever people

I particularly loved the bit about cancelling mentoring schemes for female academics. Most university mentoring schemes for women involve senior staff (mostly female professors) doing it on top of the rest of their workload. I guess they might mean something like Springboard, but even that doesn't cost very much money. Certainly not when compared to salaries of senior university leaders... this really is a case where cutting a VC's salary by 50k would pay for the costs.

Sometimes I fear my eyes will not come back down from rolling them so much at the shit that comes out of HR and senior management.

I had a quick word with someone very senior in the uni on Friday night in the pub, and his view was quite interesting

• He basically saw the industrial action as naive. This seemed to be a kind of neoliberal jerk reflex (pun intended). Too many hours in executive boards clearly mess with your head. He couldn't see why people were still on strike when talks had been agreed, which rather suggests that the naivety is on his side!
• He did make the important point that one of the problems here is that the "employer" isn't single, but multiple. Different organisations coming to the table have very different takes on the strike, and can afford very different measures. Some can pay more towards pensions without blinking, others will really struggle to do so. Achieving consensus with such a fractured set of people will be a major challenge.
• He thought that levels of solidarity on the strike would be low, i.e. that many people would sign on as working from home and get paid, rather than registering as striking. This, and not disruption, was the sole measure he was using to determine support for the strike. We have declared as striking for all of the days so far, but I find this argument slightly weak, because it seems to me that the desire not to cross a picket creates some disruption of its own (you can imagine an anarchist line of argument that would suggest that causing disruption while simultaneously getting paid for it is actually the most effective line of resistance). I do think, however, that he may be right that a lot of people will not show solidarity here. I think people see strike return forms as very private matters, but actually the stats from them are very widely circulated amongst senior managers.
• He also made the point that the union had literally months, and meeting after meeting, to raise issues, and didn't. What the hell was going on? I, too, would like to know the answer to this.
• When I raised the pension holiday (the fact that the employers literally took 10 years out of paying into the scheme, creating a hole in it that is the approximate size and shape of the deficit), and said that this was basically employers robbing staff of their future, he backed right down. This seems like a really strong line of argument. Other people who were there hadn't even heard about the pensions holiday, which shocked me, and suggests that UCU communications could be rather better.

I think we are at the same place, whiskyowl - interesting to read that response from one of the big wigs.

"He did make the important point that one of the problems here is that the "employer" isn't single, but multiple."

I thought we all know that ...

Some employers will find it difficult to pay more on their current financial models. Maybe the need to look at the financial model? The biggest asset of any university is not fancy landscaping and architecture, its the people. The financial model needs to be constructed around that basic point.

If that means not building a new campus "focal point" or hard landscaping every inch of green space then maybe that's the sacrifice they have to make. No student ever chose a university because of the standard of granite used in steps or the fact that the decor of a cafe is changed every five minutes to be more is step with student taste. They may because of an inspiring member of staff at an open day. My students want a social space with microwaves and a kettle, not a street food cafe, does anyone listen? No, because the people making decisions never meet or talk to students.

Hi late to the thread - will read all later. I haven't been on MN for a while.
Question now is can you strike some days and not others??? I was on pickets the first two days. Last week I was away and didn't strike (would have been entirely ineffectual - the union said donate to the fund instead). Not sure what to do about the next two weeks - I have minimal teaching and will be away for half the time. Do I just strike for all of it, cos I support the cause and in solidarity with others, or do I not strike on days when it will make no difference to the dpt or my students? (feels like on such days I'd just been giving up my pay, causing zero disruption, and working anyway cos I have to submit something imminently).

Yes I’ve been wondering the same. I’ve had some teaching affected so I suppose that makes the point. But I’m away for 2 of the upcoming 4 days and I’m inclined not to treat those as strike days as I’m doing stuff in relation to my research. The other 2 days I’m back home and prepared to be on strike.

We had 2 snow days straight after last week’s strike and you know, I’m missing the bustle of teaching and admin. Trying to get on with some research and spending a lot of time at the gym.

I think I’m living life more like a normal person. I’m wondering what to do with all this spare time when I’m not working 12 hours a day! I wonder if this will be the main result of the strike - quite a few of us will use not be inclined to go back to working the way we were working before.

And I have kept on with my research over the strike days because that is “mine.” A friend of mine once advised me - always have something that is yours and you can take with you. Being a brilltacademic leader or manager is all very well (and I am and I do) but it’s the University’s not mine. My writing is mine.

I may have meetings away from home too (not confirmed) and I'm not going to strike on those days if so because I'm not sure insurance would be valid.
Good point about the strike fund too.

I’m on research leave this semester but still striking. It’s not just about the disruption of cancelled teaching, it’s also about having enough numbers notifying being on strike. This is crucial in strengthening the union’s case.

How will our employers view a partial strike though? Is it permissible? Do we have the same rights as colleagues striking the full 14 days? I have a class at the end of this week and one at the end of next. I would like to count myself as at work the first two days of each week (the research days essentially - I need to do keep doing it anyway) and strike the last 2 or 3, when my strike has a bit more meaning.

Your strike will have meaning regardless of whether you have teaching or not. It will count in the university's statistics of how widespread the strike was.

I don’t really agree with selective striking - where I am, colleagues are doing this still to attend REF meetings but not to teach undergraduate classes. It is a bit of a pick and mix approach where people are still doing what benefits their careers but not the bread and butter stuff which the university actually needs to survive. I HATE this kind of hierarchy when it comes to research (kudos) and teaching (none). Students are joining colleagues on the picket lines - and what colleagues are meeting off campus and still writing their research papers. Not all, but enough to make me ponder it all. If you are on strike, why are meetings and research still scheduled?

I also was reflecting on the lines whiskyowl said - that if you have 61 institutions, they can all afford different things. I think that is apparent in the way different VCs are responding.

I don't turn up for anything and I report that I'm striking and I don't deal with any emails. Nothing. It's liberating.

soupy but isn't the purpose of the strike to pressure senior management and UUK back to negotiations during strike period? What will the statistics mean after the strike has finished? Won't the moment have passed by then?

I don't see it so much as pick and choose as not giving up pay when I will be working anyway. I really need to submit my book. It is overdue and impacting the family. I will work on it whatever (on my own, it's a solo project)

But I am in a quandary, hence the original question. Whether to prioritise solidarity with colleagues who need to be in the office daily so must strike for 14 days, or whether i partially strike, being effective where I can whilst minimising personal and financial fall out.

And also how employers view partial strikes

but isn't the purpose of the strike to pressure senior management and UUK back to negotiations during strike period? What will the statistics mean after the strike has finished? Won't the moment have passed by then?

The statistics are collected while the strike is ongoing. So on Friday, I will be sending in my strike notification form for the previous four days. Last Thursday I sent in my first 2 strike notification forms. UUK have already agreed to negotiations, these are beginning tomorrow, and the union have asked that we maintain the strike so as to keep up pressure.

whether i partially strike, being effective where I can whilst minimising personal and financial fall out.

This is pretty selfish, as Emyroo has pointed out. You’re expecting other colleagues to take the hit, both personally and financially, in fighting for your pension as well as their own, while you minimise disruption to yourself.