Most of us love working and living in Bournemouth – the beaches are amazing, and we are surrounded by beautiful countryside and history with the New Forest and Jurassic Coast on our doorstep. We also love our jobs – teaching in higher education is a vocation which requires passion and joy. We enjoy working with our students and watching them grow in the time that they are at BU, and we care about our research.
What we have a problem with, is how the current state of higher education hinders rather than nurtures these aspects of our job. Staff feel they have no choice but to take this action in face of:
- Excessive Workloads – we are asked to do more and more, and are increasingly managed and measured.
- Precarious Contracts – too many staff are on temporary and part-time contracts.
- Pay Gap – there is a 16% gap between male and female academic staff, and an average 25% gap between BAME staff and their white colleagues.
- Pay Decline – lecturers’ pay has declined 20% in real terms since 2009.
Bournemouth University can find the money to build massive, shiny new buildings, but not to give permanent contracts or pay rises to staff who have worked there for years. This is why we are striking.
StrikeBU 