Lecturers crossing picket lines

[angrygoat2]

I’m an older postgrad student, and a few of my lectures this week have been affected by strikes. I am very sympathetic but also haven’t done a huge amount of research/reading around it, so forgive me if anything I say comes across as uninformed.

One of my lecturers will continue to teach on strike days. This person is very
prominent, both within the university and in their field. Widely cited, published a few mainstream-ish books, frequent speaking engagements, and working on a number of well-funded projects. Friends working in the field often ask “do you have xyz as a lecturer?” So definitely a heavyweight, and probably in a better financial situation than most of their colleagues.

Why isn’t this person striking? Surely they have very little to lose by showing solidarity given their status? Unfortunately they usually treat students as an afterthought (and often use them to do unpaid work under the guise of experience/exposure) so I very much doubt it’s for our benefit.

I’ve discussed this with other students and so far, no one has a compelling answer. Not trying to be judgmental - genuinely confused - but not sure I’m brave enough to ask to the prof’s face. Any insights would be appreciated!

Sorry was quoting this:

As a disabled academic, this is the one that gets me. I can barely manage full time work as it is, if I stopped working for a day, it's not like I could say to my PhD student: "Oh, sorry, I was on strike. I'll never look at that paper now; you won't get to publish it." Of course it needs looking at!

I only read the first page of the thread, but I can tell you this. Perhaps, this senior academic is just a prick. There are many of this sort. Just today, I talked to a professor who is a misogynist reactionary twat. He makes jokes about the union and the strikes, about all-male panels and sole women on them being "too vocal" and stuff you just wouldn't believe would be possible at this day and age. Also a senior well respected professor. Alas

I have no problem with people not voting or intending to strike for various reasons, but there are undoubtedly academics who are anti-union or union-bashing, conservative or very right wing people.

What would you like to do with them? Would you like them shamed? Run out of academia? Made to wear a yellow star?

I think you might not be the lofty mortal and political paragon you imagine yourself to be.

Thank you.

Oh gosh! Conservative academics! drum them out of town (that was sarcasm in case you missed it). And they wonder why people criticise contemporary academia for being narrow-minded.

@Byelaws and @frustratedacademic haha, very funny. The OP asked why some academics are not striking, and the reasons given to her were all but the one I offered - that there are academics who are anti-union in general, not even specifically anti-UCU. There are also, unrelated, but sometimes an intersecting population, despicable sexist racist people out there, and I am not sure why it is suddenly forbidden to point this out? Or have we reached a state of bliss already and I haven't noticed?

And just to qualify - I mean the current conservative, which has moved to extreme right trying to absorb Farage electorate, not how we traditionally understand conservative

Thanks for the clarification, @microbius . I don't like to descend to sarcasm, but truly find it annoying that "conservative" has become a standard criticism of academics who don't tow the accepted line of, dare I say it, extreme left-wing that has permeated academia.

So does that mean, because you can’t tell who is who, that we should all be treated with disdain by union members? Because that’s what happens at my uni.

I have been a single mother, foreign, on a working visa, on one income, and not in a position to strike so I do understand people who expressed their positions upthread. I guess there are very difficult moments, like crossing the picket line, which are inevitably moments of conflict. I do not have an answer at all; we are living in very uneasy times.

Some people don't agree with strike action. In fact a lot don't.

What?!!! You mean all lecturers are not identical? They have different political views and opinions? They're not identikit? Who knew...

The OP asked why some academics are not striking, and the reasons given to her were all but the one I offered

The second post said exactly what you said...

My uni is the same. It’s a bit frustrating to be honest - we’ve been told ‘just don’t write on the texts that are missed.’ But that leaves two whole texts (out of a nine week module) that are then not available to write on. I make huge sacrifices to attend. It’s aggravating. I wish they could strike in other ways - missing meetings etc, rather than valuable class time where the only people missing out are the students.

So I suppose that could be a good reason. Maybe they’re not striking because they feel it’s unfair to their students. Maybe they just want to deliver their lessons as they usually do/don’t want gaps in students’ understanding.

He/she doesn't have to strike and probably feels that it's not going to change much (changes to pensions) and is focusing on you lot.

He is allowed to cross the picket line you know.

Yes, @Kanaloa I'm sure you're right. Many of us feel that, especially for a cohort that has had interruptions to their studies since GCSE, that they don't deserve to be disadvantaged in this way. The people who are going to suffer most from these strikes are the students. Where is the logic to that?

I am sure if we put you in charge of hiring there would be really diverse intellectual landscape in which differing voices could thrive.

Thrive, providing they weren’t conservative that is.

But it is good of you to approve of some of the reasons people might strike. That is nice and progressive. Grab yourself a rainbow iced cupcake on the way out.

@Byelaws congratulations, top scores for aggression! From the rainbow ice cake comment, I presume you are anti-LGBT as well? No lesbians allowed? And I am not going anywhere [that is, if you are referring to my foreignness here in the same sweep]. A nice little flame war shall we have with you, bearer of tolerance and peace? Or are these also wrong? 😅

To be fair I didn’t even think of that, since I’m a mature student. But yes, many of the students affected by the strike are the same ones who already have gaps in their learning.

Just ticks me off, as a mature student juggling childcare and NMW work with studying to try to better my life, to then be told I’ve wasted money and time on studying books I’ll get no teaching time on and am advised not to write on. It’s a bit annoying. It’s also come at a bad time, right around the reading week when many assignments are due, for which the feedback is now delayed, and no access to office hours for three weeks for some lecturers.

Many of us have thought long and hard about our decision not to strike (and, in my case, not to join the union).

I'm very glad that my students appear to have accepted that each individual academic can make their own decisions on this personal question - this is a fundamental right in a democratic society. I respect my academic colleagues' rights to do strike, and I hope that they respect mine not to.

Bizarre

@Kanaloa as a striking lecturer and a parent of school age child - am currently facing the prospect of schools and uni both being on strike. I appreciate the inconvenience and I will be inconvenienced when schools go on strike - and having to juggle teaching with looking after my kids. However, as the head of my kids school said - the problem is it's political. How else can teachers, nurses, lecturers, doctors etc tell the government and the public that things really really dont work. My kid's school cant afford to heat the school properly, my uni is having to have cuts because of inflation etc.

Things arent working but dont forget that lecturers are also the commuters who cant get on a train because of strikes, wont be able to get healthcare because of strikes, probably wont be able to send their kids to school because of strikes. We are also inconvenienced by strikes. We know its crap. But if we dont push back - conditions at uni will only get worse. It's not just about pay but also working conditions - your learning will be affected whether we strike or not. It is being affected by uni's use of overworked and underpaid staff etc etc etc. The learning experience in my uni is rubbish -it is - our students complain. The reality is we dont have the money to make it better - we just dont. Our students get their assessments marked by poorly paid and under trained phd students who with the best will in the world are often not up to the task - but they are cheap so they'll do. Our facilities are not good enough - but what can we do. We are not just on strike to make it better for us financially, we are also striking to make the overall learning experience for students better.

DD said yesterday any lecturer on a working visa couldn't strike under the terms of their visa.