When do you think the strikes will be?

[JasminaPashmina]

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

Before Christmas by chance?

Thanks for the clarification. The projects I'm working on have been paused so I'm already essentially striking. I'm contingently employed and skint so that's why I didn't join the union though I recently learned there's an ultra low cost membership for people like me, so I should sort it out.

It's awful isn't it? I'm not in a union, don't want to lose 40% of pay packet for December (I work so many extra hours anyway) and don't want to be hated for not striking. I'm damned either way and this is literally keeping me awake at night. Our uni has offered no real info, and I just don't know what to do. I don't even know how to make the decision, if you see what I mean. I'm new from industry and self employment, so I'm used to only being paid for when I work, and my instinct is always to work. I'm deeply troubled about this.

I've had a quiet word with our department administrator. She has assured me that only she will know that I'm working from home, and she passes the info (via the Head of Dept who is striking) to HR. So I'm striking only on my teaching days and working from home the other five. So relieved. Still can not afford to strike for three days, but at least I can pay the mortgage in Jan now.

That's a great solution. Unfortunately I teach 4 days out of 5, so I'm a bit screwed. Next semester things would be a lot easier; but the timing of this is awful.

Hello again!

I have a question - I can't find the answer anywhere on Google.

Who would know about who else is in the Union? One of my colleagues (a Jo Grady uber-fan who's actually being a bit of a twat about the strike) just approached another colleague and said "So, Stanley, I see you're not in the Union".

This twatty colleague is running for Department Union representative but isn't involved in the Union beyond standard membership as far as I can see. My initial reaction is that he shouldn't know who is and isn't in the Union. Is that right?

I hope my question makes sense!!

Hmmm that’s a bit weird. I would have thought that lists of members shouldn’t be shared with those who don’t hold an official position. Maybe the branch sends round emails with the names on the mailing list visible. They shouldn’t though due to GDRP.

However, I remember individuals being called out on social media for not being in the union last time round. So maybe a list is given to others beyond the branch officers. Personally I have never seen a list of members at my workplace.

Really dreading the strikes now. There’s a tabloid headline today about ‘flakes saying you can ID as black’ referring to UCU policies. I think public support for this will be low. 98% of the public don’t have a pension where their employer pays in over 20% so will be hard for them to get on board.

Thanks @Pota2 I've never seen a list of members either.

I agree that support will be low as most people outside of academia will think we have very good pensions and working conditions. And we do compared with most sectors. I think academics lose sight of that very very easily.

Glad to see others in the same boat (or maybe not "glad" - um, is there an appropriate word here? that means feeling less alone).

I hate this - I have no teaching during the strike and literally the only thing I could miss off doing is finalising applications for a variety of funding opportunities, some of which I've passed 'stage 1' and have been invited on for a deadline within the strike period. And one of which would be forgoing the opportunity to get a promising PhD student funding, when we've already worked quite a lot on this all semester.

And my disability means I simply cannot make up the work some other time - many union colleagues here talk about how they work late the days before the strike or on the weekends - but instead I'd simply lose those hours forever and suffer my career as a result. And I didn't vote for the strike, and in fact at our Uni less than half did, and I'm not even sure what our Uni could do - they're already arguing more in the Union's line nationally anyway.

I'm wondering if I should be a union member at all. I joined because after my diagnosis, I thought union support might be useful if I ever needed it. But thus far all it's done is give me these dilemmas. (I joined shortly before the last strikes).

anotheranonacademic if less than half voted for strike, does your institution actually have a mandate to strike?

My god, that sounds awful. I think that this strike will be worse for employees than employers anyway but your example is very stark. That poor poor prospective PhD student. I think I would not strike or only strike on some days to make sure that I could do the student funding app. Jo Grady can go on about solidarity all she likes but anyone promoting action that will almost exclusively harm individual students can get to fuck. I felt the same about people who refused to do vivas last time round. The employer doesn’t care very much about stuff like that but it will be devastating to the student.

I also hugely dislike how many UCU members are imploring students not to cross picket lines. How about no? The students don’t owe you solidarity because you’re upset about your working conditions. They are the ones paying fees and have every right to cross whatever picket they want seeing as they aren’t striking.

God, we haven’t even started and I already hate the union. I am not striking all days. I am teaching on two days and am restricting it to that. I am not crossing any pickets and if any UCU people have a problem with that, they can fuck off. Or maybe I can self-ID as striking while delivering my lecture....

Or maybe I can self-ID as striking while delivering my lecture....

Brilliant!

I agree that support will be low as most people outside of academia will think we have very good pensions and working conditions.

Indeed we do, so let's protect them for us and for the future generations who will come to work in academic institutions.

I also hugely dislike how many UCU members are imploring students not to cross picket lines. How about no? The students don’t owe you solidarity because you’re upset about your working conditions. They are the ones paying fees and have every right to cross whatever picket they want seeing as they aren’t striking.

Well, it's kinda my 'job' as a picket to suggest that people don't cross the picket line. Yes, of course they have the right to cross it and will be free to do so.

I also hugely dislike how many UCU members are imploring students not to cross picket lines. How about no? The students don’t owe you solidarity because you’re upset about your working conditions. They are the ones paying fees and have every right to cross whatever picket they want seeing as they aren’t striking.

They do, of course, but I often find that actually students who want to be supportive don't really know how, so they don't know, for example, any of the discussion or history around non-strikers objecting to crossing picket lines, or that this might make any difference. Plus, last time around some of my students told me that they found it uncomfortable crossing, and were relieved to be told that they could choose not to, if they wished. (Although nb for those with international students, if their class is taking place then choosing not to cross is not treated as excusable re. visa attendance requirements, so it's really worth their being careful of those).

So, on the whole, I am in favour of putting no pressure on students either way, but am absolutely in favour of making sure that they know that they are allowed to express their perspective on this too, whether that's by actively supporting or actively not supporting the strikes! Sometimes, otherwise, they can feel they've lost their voice a bit.

I am not striking. I am a single parent with two DC and I already have substantial debts from legal fees. I do agree that the position for staff on precarious contracts should be made much, much better but I also think the sector as a whole needs to remain economically viable for those staff (and all of us) to be employed. Some of the institutions where strikes are being called are already in deficit.

I lost my faith in the union when my head of department (also our union rep) literally dumped everything on me as the most junior female in the building to the extent that I ended up sick - and of course could not consult the union for advice.

It is horrible being the one who teaches through a strike, but it would be more horrible not being able to pay my mortgage.

I'm the same, Arella. The thought of crossing a picket line sickens me, but, as a widowed single parent of 6, the thought of not being able to pay the mortgage is worse!

Can I also ask re precarity, does this mean that research-staff will stop applying for grants where they have expressly costed in and requested a precariously employed RA, post-doc or PhD in their application? I am just wondering how the several professors I know who are tweeting about how much they care for the precarious staff feel about it, given that I know for a fact that all of them have projects running where they have precariously employed people in their team and that those posts only exist due to the funding they applied for. I am also interested in the many academics I know who have bought out their teaching feel about the prospect of abolishing fixed term teaching fellows. I presume they might think about how their own careers are directly built on the precarity of others. I mean, I am being sarcastic here because they will not make the link at all and will flood our timelines with happy selfies and quotes from the communist manifesto over the next few weeks.

Academia is reliant on precarity. If you want to get your huge funding grants, there will be precarious staff. If the uni told some of these people that they couldn’t have an RA or teaching-buyout because all staff must be employed on a permanent contract, there would be a mutiny. I know someone who has been bought out of teaching for 3 years with a Leverhulme prize but claims solidarity with the fixed-term workers who are only there to cover her teaching. Bet she’d change her tune if she was told she had to teach and balance her research like the rest of us plebs.

@Pota2 I wasn't aware of the disabled academic at York targetted by Grady, can you send a Twitter link (DM if necessary). I'm also absolutely furious about Jo Grady's blocking of female academics until she needed their vote. Solidarity indeed.

I wonder if I follow you on Twitter - I follow a lot of GC academics who were blocked by Grady. I love you all

@Pota2

OK, here's my take on it:

1. There's an inherent risk with absolutely everything in life so I don't disagree with you that pensions fall under that umbrella. However, if the USS fund managers can't provide a DB career-average benefit with the contributions we're making, then they seriously need to rethink their investment strategy. I do accept that final salary benefits are not realistic.

1. I'm not sure that there's ever a good time to strike. The members voted for it so .....

1. To be honest, I haven't had any issues with Jo Grady to date. She's a female academic so it seems surprising that she blocks female academics and doesn't have time for academic freedom. I have no knowledge of the other issues to which you refer. Having said all that, I'm absolutely sure that you're not fabricating any of this so it would be interesting to have some links to any background so that I can bring myself up to date.

I'm keeping an open mind for now

DD has had an email saying Nov-Dec 5 are dates for strike at her Uni.

Her tutor has told her he will definitely strike.

JasminaPashmina here is the link to where she says she hopes York investigate it.

twitter.com/DrJoGrady/status/1080097096554946560?s=20

The main tweet has been deleted but it came from the notorious Lily Madigan (who has now been exposed as a serial sex-pest with numerous stories from women about Lily's highly predatory and disturbing behaviour). Lily was complaining on twitter about Dr Louise Moody who worked at York at the time, saying that Louise having gender-critical views and believing that lesbians are female led to Lily feeling unsafe. Louise is deaf and was precariously employed. Lily has never attended York uni. Grady weighs in and tags the employer. She's a real snake.

We may follow each other, although I have to keep my GC views on the DL as I can't afford to lose my job. It all boils my blood though.

NiceLegs

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2019/05/24/feminist-academics-uproar-new-union-chiefs-terf-blocker-complain/

twitter.com/DrJoGrady/status/1080097096554946560?s=20

twitter.com/DrJoGrady/status/1081233110061191168?s=20

twitter.com/bella__wheeler/status/1081093454174830593?s=20

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/10/08/revealed-academics-need-panic-alarms-face-death-threats-radical/

Here are some links to the stance of Grady and the UCU about academic freedom and women being allowed to talk about women's rights. Let me be very clear that none of these women who have been caught up in this horrific witch-hunt have been transphobic. They have merely expressed a wish to be able to discuss how policies to allow any male to self-ID as female impact on natal women, eg in prisons, sports and domestic violence shelters. For this they have been threatened with disciplinary procedures, received death and rape threats, been publicly vilified, been kicked off editorial boards and generally bullied. Jo Grady has been a very strong proponent of this bullying behaviour.

I am dreading the strikes. I am professional services staff (non-academic). I have a huge deadline on 13 December which won't get moved because of the strikes. All of my immediate colleagues are not union members and therefore won't be striking. I will be isolated and will be the only one doing so. I'll probably end up doing much of the work for the deadline anyway which is ridiculous working for free, but if I don't I'll only end up having to cram it all in after the strike is over. All meetings with academic colleagues are being rescheduled to after the strike but meetings that mainly concern PS colleagues are not as the assumption is (which is unfortunately correct) that PS colleagues don't strike so I'll miss some important meetings whilst on strike. I didn't vote for the strike, but as a union member and as a pension scheme member I just can't cross the picket lines. But I really have no enthusiasm for it this time around.