@aridapricot
Not striking either, in a very unionized department. I'm only teaching on 5 of the 10 days, and (if my calculations re timing of pickets are correct) only have to cross a picket line on 2 of those days. I am tempted to move my teaching online/do pre-recorded lectures (you can do it easily at my place without really having to notify anyone, except the students of course) but I find it cowardly.
I relate a lot to your comment *@Violetsarepurple1*. I think for many of my colleagues (and many other of the most visible UCU members), being in a union has an intrinsic value, no matter how useless it actually is. Given the history of the trade union movement, I can actually sympathize with this position, but I feel there is quite a lot of incomprehension and even mockery towards those who join the union with a more business-like attitude, i.e. if I'm going to pay monthly subscriptions and lose money in strikes, then I'd like something to show for it.
In April 2020, after the disastrous rounds of strikes, I wrote a very politely worded e-mail to the union, asking if they could articulate what they felt had been achieved by the strikes, and how it compared to what their aims initially were. I got no response. Alex Douglas who is a lecturer at St Andrews was very active on twitter and on his blog in the 2019-2020 strikes, and basically his position was one of "if we're going to strike, I'd like to hear what we're trying to achieve and how realistic it is that we'll achieve it" - he got a lot of grief from UCU activists, as if it is completely wrong to ask what your considerable sacrifices are meant to get you.
Yes, I totally agree with that, including the sneering from more idealistic colleagues. When I say that I am worried about being able to afford it, I just get 'claim from the strike fund' in response. How will that mitigate when there is a £600 gap between what I can claim and what I will lose? Or I get 'well I can't afford it either and I'm still striking'. Really? You'd miss out on something like buying a house for this strike that blatantly won't work? Or, as is the case with others I know, you'd not pay the rent/mortgage/nursery fees/debt repayments/care home fees for parents? No way would I do that and I must say that I don't understand the mentality of those who claim they would become homeless in the name of UCU.
I remember Alex Douglas! I totally agreed with him at the time but was too much of a wimp to actually do something about it. But he is totally right of course. History has showed that we gain nothing from taking this repeated action, even if it is for a good cause. All we do is sacrifice pay and make the employers richer. Objectively, everyone who was on strike in 2019/20 is poorer than if they had not taken that action.
I have decided that I will still strike on my teaching days, as I am a member and feel like I must. But I will be working on the other days (and I know for a fact that some members of our branch don't strike on all the days). And when this round of action is over, I will bite the bullet and resign my membership. £25 a month for this crap beggars belief.
I am glad I am not the only one who feels like this because it is difficult when you are in a department full of pro-union people.