Yep, the staff of BU UCU are back on the picket. Apparently our last strike action wasn’t a loud enough message for the management of BU and UCEA, so here we are AGAIN to reiterate our concerns.
BU UCU is striking for four main reasons: Equality, Job Security, Fair Workloads and Fair Pay.
Female academics at BU and across the sector make 16% less than their male counterparts for doing the exact same job and also have a difficult time getting promoted. An even greater disgrace is that BAME women make 9% less than their white counterparts across the sector, and are leaving BU because they cannot progress their careers.
BU UCU is also fighting against casualisation, with many lecturers on zero-hour contracts and some barely making £10 an hour. BU UCU is also striking about increasing workloads, with many lecturers at BU working more than 50 hours per week to get through a normal week’s workload. Academic staff, across the sector, have told UCU that they put in 40 million hours on extra-curricular activities a year; the equivalent of almost 25,000 full-time jobs. BU UCU is fighting against toxic stress, with many staff members burned out or on long-term sick leave.
BU UCU is also fighting for pay. Pay for university staff has plummeted in real-terms in the last decade, even according to a report released by universities last month. Their figures showed a drop of around 17% in real-terms since 2009.
Finally, members are striking to challenge the culture of fear that is pervading higher education; the fear of staff on casual contracts that their jobs could end at any moment, the fear of middle management who are being pushed to report on their striking colleagues, and the hurt and anger of staff who are not being listened to about their concerns relating to their increasingly negative work environment.
StrikeBU 