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Academic common room

Anyone else not striking?

1000 replies

goingpearshaped · 11/02/2022 22:17

I am not in UCU so not striking. Anyone else? I can sense the divide already between those striking and those not in our dept, I really hate this. Agh, what a mess all round.

OP posts:

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ghislaine · 09/05/2023 23:04

Sorry, a correction, now that I’ve seen the actual court-approved statement. £10 000 in damages and £12 000 in costs.

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KStockHERO · 11/05/2023 11:04

Oh that is delicious. The Twitter response to her statement are hilarious.

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ghislaine · 11/05/2023 11:45

My favourite comment is the one saying “Insert bearded man saying ‘solidarity’ here”.

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aridapricot · 11/05/2023 14:07

My favourite comment is the one saying “Insert bearded man saying ‘solidarity’ here”.

😂😂

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aridapricot · 14/05/2023 19:19

Interesting thread here: https://twitter.com/runthinkwrite/status/1657709966692696069

https://twitter.com/runthinkwrite/status/1657709966692696069

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ExUCU · 14/05/2023 19:19

Good thread on the bigger picture: https://twitter.com/runthinkwrite/status/1657709966692696069?cxt=HHwWioC-ldGbr4EuAAAA

https://twitter.com/runthinkwrite/status/1657709966692696069?cxt=HHwWioC-ldGbr4EuAAAA

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aridapricot · 14/05/2023 19:19

Oh @ExUCU we posted the same link at the same time! 😆

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ExUCU · 14/05/2023 19:19

Haha, great minds etc., arid …

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KStockHERO · 16/05/2023 16:24

That's a really interesting thread, thank you for posting it here.

I don't think Grady's obsession with trans rights is just about deflecting from her terrible leadership.
I think she's also got her eyes on a longer-term political career. I don't mean in government but as a talking head, a Labour party mouthpiece, a conference circuit regular, a Daily Politics bod etc. And she knows she has to say the Right Things to have a chance at this role.

I've said this before on MN (maybe even on this thread) but Grady strikes me as the kind of person who wasn't one of the popular girls at school but wanted to be. I think there are two things that fall out from this in terms of her obsession with trans rights. Firstly, I think she revels in the mirage of popularity that being GS brings and a big part of that is wheeling out, and being applauded for, the TWAW mantra. It, finally, makes her a "Cool Girl". Secondly, I don't actually think she likes women very much and has a position of power where she can shit on them from a great height.

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MotherofPearl · 16/05/2023 17:02

Are any of you who are not in UCU being asked to pick up the marking of colleagues involved in the MAB? If so, how are you responding? I'm not clear about where things stand with this.

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LaChanticleer · 16/05/2023 17:34

Haven’t been asked yet. I’m team marking a module and no one’s said they’re not doing it.

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historyrocks · 16/05/2023 17:48

No sign of anyone refusing to mark in my department—and it’s very pro-UCU.

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worstofbothworlds · 16/05/2023 17:51

I'm in the UCU and am on sabbatical so happily nobody has been rude enough to ask me!

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ghislaine · 16/05/2023 18:26

I haven’t been asked, I assume they will get TAs to pick it up although specialist modules might be trickier. There are definitely people participating in my department, we’ve had emails asking us to confirm whether marks will be returned by the due date (ie at all).

I know I asked this question before, but is there any movement towards resolution? A colleague in UCU (very committed although doesn’t hold any office) seemed very confident it’d all be done and dusted by early June. I confess I don’t see how that is possible but then I also didn’t foresee Jo Grady’s pausing of the dispute.

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KStockHERO · 16/05/2023 19:59

@MotherofPearl HoDs at my university are refusing to re-assign marking so no-one has been asked.

I'm co-marking with several people and haven't run into anyone who's participating in the MAB yet though all of these people are in UCU, some of them very vocally so.

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KStockHERO · 16/05/2023 20:06

Sorry, I posted too soon. If I was asked to pick up some marking, I would be very polite and just say that I don't have any spare capacity at the moment. This is actually true!

If pushed, I'd share full details of why I don't have spare capacity to show I'm not using it as an excuse. I'd fight it as much as possible because I genuinely don't have space.

But, if pushed, with threats of docked pay or disciplinary action, I'd relent with conditions that I don't necessarily know the subject well, that feedback will be very limited, that marks and feedback will likely be late, that I'm unwilling to meet any students from picked up marking about my marks or feedback.

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MotherofPearl · 16/05/2023 20:08

Gosh, I feel like a bit of an outlier. In my smallish team there are only 2 of us who are not in UCU and therefore not doing the MAB. We haven't been asked to cover colleagues' marking yet, but I gather it's under discussion.

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aridapricot · 16/05/2023 20:10

I am HoD and I have been asked to find alternative markers. What I've been doing for the moment is, having a look at modules where the marking is done collectively but the course convener hasn't allocated it to specific markers because of MAB; trying to allocate the marking as it would have normally been done, and then asking the people who I know are not on MAB to do their bit. So I keep telling myself that (even if I'm not taking part in the MAB myself) I am not putting anyone in the difficult position to decide whether to strike-break. My own line manager is conflicted about that and they have hinted that if I say there's no one qualified/available to take on specific marking then they'll take my word for it but I suppose at some point pressure will be put on us from higher up.

@ghislaine We got an e-mail from the uni last week that there were no talks ongoing or scheduled. I do not think there's any progress.

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MotherofPearl · 16/05/2023 20:22

Thanks @KStockHERO; that's probably how I will approach it. I don't have spare capacity either and I'm happy to show my diary/calendar as evidence of that.

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KStockHERO · 16/05/2023 20:53

MotherofPearl · 16/05/2023 20:22

Thanks @KStockHERO; that's probably how I will approach it. I don't have spare capacity either and I'm happy to show my diary/calendar as evidence of that.

I'm not sure what the line is at your place but here we're always told to prioritize students during/after periods of industrial action. I know, I know.... 🙄

So, if I was pushing back on doing additional marking, I'd be sure to say it was student-facing and student-related activities that were stopping me rather than research, because my HoD could say "de-prioritize research for a while".

That's a whole other conversation, of course, about what can be de-prioritized: Should I not submit this grant, should I cancel an international conference, should I not write a media piece? But, it is quite fuzzy so I'd lead with student-related stuff taking up all my capacity ATM (which is actually true!).

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worstofbothworlds · 17/05/2023 08:49

If you have PhD students that need close supervision/coaching before a conference, UG lab students that need hovering over etc. that would also be helpful to cite in saying you are at capacity with teaching.
(I have two lovely UG lab students at the moment and for example I'm spending tomorrow helping them finish off their experimental work between exams - so I am doing student work even though on sabbatical).

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aridapricot · 27/05/2023 15:32

Another interesting thread here: https://twitter.com/BrackleyJ/status/1662070512770588673

https://twitter.com/BrackleyJ/status/1662070512770588673

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catsfleasandbabies · 27/05/2023 18:58

From where I am standing, as a disappointed female ex-member, he sounds like he is part of the same 'faction' as the GS really. Shouty, vicious squabbling and trying to reduce it down to procedures to make his finger-pointing more palatable.