When do you think the strikes will be?

[JasminaPashmina]

Just that - when do you think the strikes will happen?

Before Christmas by chance?

Yes, bingobango he says the same regarding the left faction. What a disaster.

Well, I have left the UCU now, so will not be taking part in any further strike action. However, I will continue to keep an eye on the dispute.

Yes, I believe that the next round will be for 14 days at the end of February and beginning of March. Apparently these have been planned so that they are spread evenly across weekdays, ensuring that there is not disproportionate disruption for some students (great, let's try to plan a minimally disruptive strike).

This article from THE shows what an utter failure these strikes were:

www.timeshighereducation.com/news/one-three-union-members-joined-strikes-say-employers

We have been saying this on here, but it's interesting to see it in print. Jo Grady's leadership in this has been a disaster and I think she should resign if the next round doesn't lead to resolution. The timing was awful and to strike on pensions before the JEP report, knowing that it was going to be almost impossible to get a resolution while reports were pending is unforgivably incompetent. The issues were conflated, meaning that there is no incentive for an offer to be made on pensions if the strike will continue on pay anyway. The one-off long block is less disruptive than shorter ones, it has exhausted resources of strikers, and was totally overshadowed by the general election (and coincidentally, many UCU members used the strikes to campaign for the Labour Party...).

Meanwhile, Jo Grady is spending her time slagging off gender critical feminists on twitter again (Kathleen Stock this time). She has apparently cancelled her THE subscription (odd, I get the articles free but anyway...) due to their daring to write about gender and is donating the money saved to Mermaids. The whole thing is a joke and I am as angry about this as I am at the Labour defeat, which was also caused by ideological extremism. Just as the Labour extremists are saying that they 'won the argument' in the election, the UCU is still trying to paint the strikes as a resounding success (despite 66% of its members crossing the picket line). Deluded.

There is a reballot at a number of universities now. It will be interesting to see how it goes. I would recommend people do not return the ballot if they oppose the strikes. I feel bad saying this because it takes advantage of anti-TU laws, but it's the most effective way to stop the extreme left in the UCU. Why should anyone lose pay over this? I am still pissed off that I did and I won't lose any more. Fuck this rubbish.

Bingobango69 yes, the extreme left in HEC is an issue but at the end of the day, if you lead a union and you can't command the confidence of your executive committee to the extent that they overrule you, you need to resign. The buck stops with Jo Grady, she's the one who called the vote for strikes at this time (a very bad tactical decision) and she gets paid over 100k a year.

I have seen one of the extreme UCU-Leftists saying that because they have been treated so badly over the years, they can never have faith or trust any offer put forward by the employer. Fucking marvellous. What a joke.

Apologies for the swearing but the combination of this shit and the Labour result has tipped me over the edge and the parallels are so obvious.

I have left the union as well. I can't afford to strike (but have a permanent contract so would not want to claim payments) and don't want to be a hypocrite. I am in a super-unionised department and will stick out like a sore thumb but I've made my peace with my own decision. I don't think a fourth round of strikes is justified or going to be effective.

It seems increasingly clear that the November-December strike was called just for the sake of having a strike, as a "show of strength"... but a very expensive one for most striking members. If they recognized that the strike wasn't going to achieve much because of the timing but nevertheless wanted to show that members would be prepared to strike at a future time, they could have called just one or two days.

Also, whatever happened to working to contract? I get the sense that this could indeed be a more effective strategy than a strike - if everyone stuck to it, refused to be on call 24/7 for students and colleagues, asked their managers which of their many pointless meetings and bureaucratic tasks they should drop to make sure they're working to their contracted hours, took all of the annual leave they're entitled too even if this means deadlines aren't going to be met, etc. Instead, what I see is business as usual even from my more hardline colleagues (who I guess don't want to lose favour with students or with managers that might decide on their promotion applications in the future), and a couple of people of Twitter publicly confessing that they'd broken ASOS by spending a weekend helping out students (in situations that frankly looked as if they could have been easily avoided if the student was simply better organized) but it was SO.DIFFICULT and they care about their students SO.MUCH. Pure performativity, which seems to be what these strikes are about.

I agree with the analysis above. I too have left the union for many of the same reasons, but I’ll find it incredibly awkward, in a heavily unionised department, to walk past the picket line, let alone deal with the thorny issue of not wishing to be unsupportive of striking colleagues, yet needing to deal with students approaching me for advice as their own tutors are on strike.

imposter by the sounds of it, you won’t be alone though (even if it feels like it). Two thirds crossed the picket last time which must be way higher than the 2018 strikes. I was also worried about what colleagues might say but I have stopped caring now. These strikes are just for show (totally agree with you arid), they’re helping neither precarious staff nor the students in the long run. I won’t be pressured into compromising my own welfare for a group of people whose go-to method to secure compliance is bullying. They can find another mug. If they started caring about staff, calling out bullying by their own branches and approached the strikes in a reasonable manner (where strike action is a very last resort, not a method of showing how tough you are), then maybe I would rejoin and respect the strike mandate.

I left the union a while ago when it refused to give me legal support after I was the subject of gender/disability discrimination. The head of the union at my institution (who was incredibly supportive) was horrified at how I was treated. I have no plans to return to the UCU so will have to cross the picket line. At least I have colleagues who know and understand my reasons.

Happy new year everyone!

I saw the report about 14-days of strikes in Feb/March. Joy.

I am no longer in the union. I will happily cross the picket line and happily explain why I am doing so. I feel bad for my striking colleagues and understand how this is demoralising for them. However, UCU is a shit show and I can't support them or their ridiculous strikes.

What will you tell them OP? I am also no longer in the union and wondering how to formulate my reasons for crossing the line

Thanks for your support @Pota2, everyone, I appreciate it.

twitter.com/drrhianelinor/status/1215549182112665601?s=21

I think that cracks are starting to show within the union. I have full sympathy for precarious staff like Rhian. The problem is that this strike isn’t actually helping them.

The reason why people are questioning the coupling together of two separate disputes is that it weakens the union’s hand. You might feel that you have the support of your colleagues now, but what if an offer is made on pensions on the strict condition of calling off the strike? What happens then? And what incentive does the employer have to make an offer on pay if it knows that the strikes will continue on pensions.

The precarity issue has been tacked on to a long-running pensions issue and it’s unfair on casualised staff to ask them to bear the brunt of this, as well as the post-92s having to strike as part of a joined together dispute where the thing that most concerns pre-92s doesn’t even affect them.

I suspect that people like Rhian will once again become casualties of this action. Strike action is a last resort. The UCU knew it wouldn’t get a deal on pensions until at least after the JEP report. It had received a reasonable offer regarding interim contributions in September. I think many members would have been happy to vote for it. It shot it down and didn’t even put it to a member vote and pressed ahead with the strikes, knowing full well that there could be no long term settlement on pensions until the valuation issues had been resolved or were at least clearer. The UCU-left are now rejecting the JEP report outright and still arguing for no detriment, which is an unhelpful position.

The UCU has now also said that the 14-day period this semester is a beginning of the escalation. Sorry but how can you ask for more than 22 days of strikes in academic year, especially with such a poor strategy? That is a failure of its members, including Rhian.

It’s sad to see so many still swearing blind that this has been a success. I guess it’s hard to admit the truth. But if 22 days is just the beginning, don’t you feel that there should be a clearer vision of how this dispute will be won? Chances are that you will sacrifice thousands of pounds for nothing.

I'm considering e-mailing UCU's central offices to ask if they could explain, in a clear and concise manner, what was achieved by the 2019 strikes and what is hoped/expected will be achieved by the next wave of strikes. I hate to take a consumerist approach to unionizing but I feel that if I'm paying not membership fees but also hundreds if not thousands in lost wages, I should get something in return other than an "amazing show of solidarity".

I'm afraid they lost me at "comrades", Pota2. Funnily enough, Herriot watt UCU, not all academics are communists.

I left the union after the last set of strikes. This makes me feel better as I am also in a heavy unionised dept (soc sci). Walking past the picket line was awful but I really struggled to see the point of the strike this time. I thought it was just me so v validating.

We will see what the next months bring. I did know more strikes were scheduled until I read this.

Did not know...

I'm still (just) in the union, but haven't had a ballot paper for this next round of strikes. I shall not strike - I can't see the point. Striking doesn't help the precariously employed. The las strike was so muddled in its aims - it really felt like it was an attempt to say to UCU members "I'm not Sally Hunt."

It felt like the trust-fund Sparts & Trots who used to bicker with each other while selling their newspapers outside the library wen I was an undergrad - revelling in being "rebellious" seemed to be the main thing they were on about (oh and the men sexually pressuring as many women as would let them).

oh, and I can't read Rhian's tweets - seems she's blocked me. Which is dd as we've met a few times - in the first strikes in 2018 - and got on well. I helped her a bit with something, just a small thing, but really ?

Oh, I'm sure you said something very problematic to make Rhian block you, dolorabelle... Don't worry, you're not missing much. Basically, she says that we need to stop saying that the disputes should be separated because linking them together shows such awesome solidarity. Never mind the fact that that the strike is pointless unless it actually leads to a result and by conflating the two disputes and having unclear aims, you're not putting pressure on the employers to settle. Who cares when you have solidarity, right?

If your institution was striking in December, you won't be balloted again for the further strikes. They are part of the same mandate. The unis being reballoted are the ones who did not meet the threshold.

Honestly, this blocking thing comes across as really nasty and hostile. They keep talking about 'building a utopian learning environment' through this action. Does that include refusing to interact with anyone who might have slightly different views to yourself? Evidently. Oh well, the only thing that will happen with this is that the people who insist on carrying on will be left poorer. It is not possible to get a long-term settlement on pensions now. On what planet do they think that the employers will agree to #nodetriment when there is a further valuation pending? They're bringing people out for nothing and it's horribly unfair on everyone.

Oh and yeah, none of them seem to be actually sticking to ASOS, so there's another resounding success.

Good luck crossing the pickets.

So does this mean that if my institution had strikes in Dec, there will definitely be strikes in Feb/Mar? Or does this depend on something else?

I'm not a union member but am affected by it as I lead a large teaching team for a core module, most of whom are union members.

ghislaine yes, provided it is voted for at the HEC meeting on 30 January. However, given that UCU left hold a majority of seats on HEC and UCU Left have said that they support 14 more days of strikes, it seems pretty likely that this will happen. They are hoping that more institutions will join them through the reballot but the ones that already passed the voting threshold are definitely in.

Bugger.

Yes, indeed. May have to think about whether I can remain a member of UCU.

What will you tell them OP? I am also no longer in the union and wondering how to formulate my reasons for crossing the line

I will say that I left the union because of serious concerns about its direction and leadership. I don't think there's any need to elaborate but, if asked, I'd be happy to do so.

At a Department meeting yesterday, we were told it's 90% certain there will strikes in late February/early March.

I felt very conflicted during the 2018 strikes as I was abroad on work-related stuff for a good chunk of it and couldn't join in (advice is that if you're working abroad then you should work as normal). I did give a very substantial donation to the Fighting fund. It is likely that I'll be in a similar position this time round and guess what, I'm not going to feel conflicted at all, and as for the Fighting fund donation I'll have to think about it... obviously it's all in the benefit of precarious workers, whom I support, but I'd hate the current leadership to think I'm supporting them in any way.