My heart is not in this latest university strike....

[JadeDay]

There are lots of reasons, everything from the fact I'm still picking up the fall out of work from the last strike, to just not having the physical and mental the energy to strike this time around. My institution are striking on the inequalities issue, an issue I highly support, but do not feel striking is the way to solve it. My students are tired and struggling, and the only people we seem to punish are ourselves and them. The political discussion in my department is just toxic on this, agressively turning on those who don't/won't strike whilst chanting a narrative about all coming together. I've witnessed the worst bullying I have ever seen all in light of this action which is supposed to promote inclusion and equality! Whilst I agree with the cause I don't want to align myself with the hardliner narrative of 'you're either with us or against us.' I love my job, I love my students, I support the ideals of the action, but the way it is playing out.... well as the title says, my heart just isn't in it.

and she was on over 50k living in Sheffield (where you can live extremely well on that)

Depends on where in Sheffield and how you define 'extremely well' I guess.

NiceLegs come on. Are we really arguing that earning nearly twice the average income in a Northern city is living on the poverty line and isn’t in fact an extremely comfortable position to be in?
You can of course make these arguments in the strike, that permanent staff are underpaid. They will garner little sympathy from precarious staff or from the general public though. I’m not sure where the perception that we should be paid huge salaries comes from. It doesn’t seem very affordable and would reduce the number of jobs and we are essentially teachers who also do some research but very often it’s not research that has a huge amount of reach (I do realise there are exceptions and that I am confining my comments to my experience of soc sci where it’s mainly fellow academics who read our research).
The main point of course is the fact that if we push for higher salaries and frozen pension contributions, there will be less left over for the ZHC staff who don’t have a USS pension. Depends which we consider more important, which again goes to the point that this isn’t a united fight because some want to protect pensions and increase pay and others want their precarious contract made permanent and to move off zero hours.

Thinking, how do I know how academics are perceived? Well, of course I should cite a proper academic study here, but my impression from the non-Guardian mainstream media is that there is prejudice about academics being out of touch, ‘woke’ or ‘cultural Marxists’. The high tuition fees don’t help, and I also have some anecdotal evidence from colleagues who were on the picket line near a Council estate and got a lot of hostility from residents. What do you think?

Ooh Jasmina those are nasty. It’s probably not that hard to work out who she’s referring to if she works in a small dept. That’s really not on. It’s not anyone else’s business if someone doesn’t strike although it sounds like said colleague is striking but rearranging to avoid prejudicing the students. Sounds like shooting yourself in the foot but i dislike how they’ve suggested that people stop citing this person. Pathetic and shows how academia is more about being in the in-crowd and being an ‘activist’ than how good your work is.
Ugh.
I have been working from home the past couple of days so not crosses the picket yet.

Reading those threads has not made me feel any better ... funny how people just love ganging up on someone. Academic twitter used to be about sharing research and having good-natured exchanges but that has given way to too much public shaming and nastiness. Just doesn’t make a good impression, does it?

NiceLegs come on. Are we really arguing that earning nearly twice the average income in a Northern city is living on the poverty line and isn’t in fact an extremely comfortable position to be in?

Pota2: no, we're not. If you check back on my post, I can't recall having used the phrase 'poverty line' anywhere. I'm merely suggesting that's is not always blissfully straightforward to live well in a northern city; they're just not the slums that they once were At the risk of repeating myself, it depends where in the city you live and how you define 'living well'. And, come to think of it, how many dependents you have. If Dr Grady is "The Old Woman who lived in the Shoe", then her salary won't stretch that far.

Me? I could happily survive on half of Dr Grady's purported salary — if I had to — no matter where in the UK I lived. But I am not her. And she is not you.

She earns six figures and has no children. She has a partner who must earn over 40k. My guess is they live a pretty damm comfortable lifestyle on that and if they feel they don’t, I suggest they hook up with the bloke on question time who pleaded poverty on 80k a year. Jo Grady’s predecessor was on 170k plus benefits. The UCU won’t release details of her salary but it’s going to be a pretty hefty one.

I define living well as being able to afford suitable accommodation which in a northern city you would, no problem, to be able to afford food, transport and socialising. There are so many people who earn way less than what many academics earn and they are expected to manage and they do manage.

I am afraid that I just cannot have sympathy for those who are on Reader-level contracts, on over 60k pa, no kids, dual earner household, don’t live in London or SE, and who still complain about being underpaid. These people (because I know some of them) have been tweeting about their crap pay and shitty pensions. I mean how much should someone who researches, say, Shakespeare and gender and teaches some modules on an English literature degree get paid? I’m not by any means saying academic jobs aren’t valuable but in proportion to the rest of the country, academics already earn pretty well and get a pretty good pension.

Anyway, from the looks of her latest statement, it seems St Jo would be prepared to call the strike off in return for a pretty modest pay rise, a fairly minimal temporary reduction in pension contributions and various vague non-specific assurances by the employers to ‘look into casualisation and workload’.

Maybe she can then sort out the absolutely disgusting way she’s treated feminist academics who disagree with her on gender self-ID. Most have left UCU by now so maybe they’re not worth bothering with but I believe that Prof Rosa Freedman is still a member. HEC called on Jo Grady to condemn the vile anti-Semitic abuse Rosa has received but it has been radio silence from Jo, who has openly said that feminist scholars are bigots and deserve the abuse they get.

There aren’t words strong enough to describe how much I disagree with her leadership and I foresee a mass exodus unless she changes her tune. I know so many who have resigned because of her.

I mean how much should someone who researches, say, Shakespeare and gender and teaches some modules on an English literature degree get paid? I’m not by any means saying academic jobs aren’t valuable but in proportion to the rest of the country, academics already earn pretty well and get a pretty good pension.

This is a very UK based, humanities based perspective.

As an academic working in STEM, I would typically be paid more by universities in other parts of the world. I would also be paid more (even taking into account the pensions issue) if I worked in related fields outside academia. And what I do is very valuable to society, sustainable development etc.

Perhaps academics working in humanities are relatively well paid compared to other careers, but this isn't the case for most STEM academics.

Yes, my perspective is based on humanities and social sciences. Ironically though, STEM academics are much less likely to join in the strike and I haven’t heard any of these arguments from them. Almost all the loud voices in UCU are from non-STEM subjects.

There are so many people who earn way less than what many academics earn and they are expected to manage and they do manage.

I agree. But I'm not sure what your point is exactly. Are you suggesting that we shouldn't be fighting over pay because 'many people' earn less? If that's the case then fine: you're entitled to your opinion. I don't agree, however.

NiceLegs I am saying that it’s an insult to hourly paid staff, support staff and precarious staff to push for issues that will actually only really benefit those already secure and well paid and to expect solidarity from those worse off when they get little in return.

We can see this in the latest message from the UCU. They seem prepared to call it off if pay and pensions are settled but will take some wishy washy crap about commitments to workload that won’t materially improve things for those at the bottom.

If the offer is accepted by the employers then the strike will definitely not have been worth it for precarious staff and will probably mean permanent staff more or less break even over the next couple of years. Meanwhile, thousands of students will have suffered just so that the union can show how tough they are. When you then also get complaints from those who are in the higher rate tax bracket about how poor they are, what sort of public support would you expect for the action?

There aren’t words strong enough to describe how much I disagree with her leadership and I foresee a mass exodus unless she changes her tune. I know so many who have resigned because of her.

Pota, I so agree with what you say (although as a single, no-dependents person who moved for work from a "cheap" northern town to a very expensive part of the south (not SE) I am skint every month re mortgage etc - it's being single that's the kicker) - I know a lot of women who have left the UCU over both the attitude to feminists and the anti-semitism.

The problem is, unless it's done, en masse and en bloc, it makes no difference.

I am trying to stay in, but don't have time to get involved in my branch politics. I grit my teeth and stay, encouraged by friends who say that the extreme genderists are the minority and we need people like me (and posters here!) to stay.

As Suzanne Moore wrote "There are more of us than you think."

I am saying that it’s an insult to hourly paid staff, support staff and precarious staff to push for issues that will actually only really benefit those already secure and well paid and to expect solidarity from those worse off when they get little in return.

It's a 'five fight' dispute. Some of the issues may only benefit certain people; other issues benefit others. But our fight definitely does include hourly paid staff, support staff and staff on precarious contracts.

I do get the impression that some of the arguments on here surround Dr Grady's (a) general ability to run the union and (b) her views on gender politics. For what it's worth, I agree with you on those matters. But I also realise that Dr Grady and I won't agree on everything. I'm trying not to let those matters cloud my own judgement on the strike action. She's a young woman who's taken on a big role. I remember my first management job. Looking back, I did not make a good job of it: lack of experience, rather than any ill intent. I learnt. I consider myself much better these days

Is she getting it right? For me, no. But I don't wish to leave the UCU over it.

Well, she’s 36, not 21 and I am sure there are plenty of women her age in management roles. The relevant point is a lack of management experience because the first time you’re a manager shouldn’t be being in charge of a major trade union with a multi million pound budget. That was always going to be a disaster but I blame the people who elected her, who thought that lack of experience doesn’t matter. We’re quickly seeing that it does now.

I do take your point about not leaving. You obviously have more faith in the UCU than I do. I also know that by leaving I have lost any say I had. For me, I just couldn’t do it anymore but I admire the people staying and trying to make it a better place.