Today is the last day on the picket line for this round of strikes. We currently don’t know what the next step is – it seems that UCEA is unwilling to come to an agreement with UCU, so we may be moving towards a marking boycott, or even further strike action in the summer. Watch this space!
Yesterday we saw some great action. The picket line was strong, we had members visit the station to picket under the ‘Welcome to Bournemouth University’ signs, and we had another successful day of the Decommodify Education Festival.
Yesterday we saw a great turnout at day one of our Decommodify Education Festival, held at Flirt Cafe Bournemouth. We had students, staff and members of the public turn up to learn more about the context of striking, and why we are in the position we are now.
Today’s itinerary is below. Come along to hear our speakers, show solidarity, and learn something new while drinking a great cup of coffee!
The festival begins today at Flirt Cafe, The Triangle, Bournemouth. The aim of this festival is to educate people on the history, politics and social issues which surround the current industrial action in higher education to provide a context for why the strike is happening.
Today’s itinerary is below. Come along to hear our speakers, show solidarity, and learn something new while drinking a great cup of coffee!
Wednesday 11th March
14:30-15:30 Why We Say Decommodify! -Sadie Fulton & Marian Mayer
15:30-16:00 Democratic Experiments in Education -Ian Gwinn
16:00-17:00 Your Rights as Students -Phil Wilkinson
Yesterday’s picket line was strong once again, with staff and students showing up to shout and wave banners, while also enjoying the occasional strike muffin. Today our picket line will be digital – but we will be out in force for the Decommodify Education Festival later today!
One of the main developments that has come over the past few days relates to future action – what happens if UCEA don’t come to an agreement with UCU by the end of this week? Well, the suggestion is a move to boycott marking, followed by potential further strike action during the summer exam and marking period. This is something that both staff and students would be eager to avoid, so let’s hope UCEA see sense and agree with our negotiators!
Some of our members were invited to speak at a rally for Rebecca Long-Bailey yesterday, and went to return the support that Bournemouth Labour have shown us over the past few weeks.
The main thing that we will be shouting about today however is our Decommodify Education Festival – our teach out which begins today! Look out for posts and tweets promoting this later today!
The Decommodify Education Festival is a series of talks and activities in solidarity with the UCU Four Fights campaign. We know that better conditions for teachers foster better education for students. We host this festival to make these links and to highlight our dedication to co-creating a more equitable and sustainable world with our students.
All are welcome to the festival – staff, students and members of the public. Come along for what promises to be an interesting and fun series of talks!
March 11th, 14:30-17:00
Decommodifying Education, Radical Pedagogy & the Neoliberal University
March 12th, 14:30-17:00
Social Movements, Solidarity and Creative Activisms
March 13th, 14:30-17:00
Resistance, Radical Media, Politics & British Comics 17:00 – Happy Hour End of Pickets Celebrations
The weather may be terrible again today, but we still had a decent turn out on the picket line.
Yesterday was a lot more cheerful, and once again we were joined by students who support the strike, including two AUB students who brought their own picket signs!
Today we are shouting out to our VC Long John Vinney and Jim ‘the cabin boy’ Andrews to support their staff who are on the picket line for the third week in a row. We are expecting to continue strike action for at least another seven days. To quote Treasure Island: ‘we must go on, because we can’t turn back’.
The strike action that is taking place across British university campuses this month is fighting four points:
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.
We know that universities have money, as they are spending it on enlarging campuses with new buildings and giving VCs generous pay rises, but they aren’t willing to share it with the staff who are employed by them to teach and guide their students; staff who are often on precarious contracts, who have been denied pay rises, and who are working excessive hours.
Our new mascot, Polly the Parrot, represents our call for parity. We are calling for UCEA and our bosses to reduce the pay gap. To put their staff on proper contracts that gives them job security. To use reasonable workload models.
We ask VCs across the country, do you want to know how to avoid a mutiny? Show your staff some respect, and pay them what they are owed. Yo ho ho.
Monday marked the 14th day of our strike, taking into account the days in November and December at the end of last year. It seemed that initially the UCEA didn’t take this action seriously, perhaps thinking that it wouldn’t amount to as much as we promised. They have been proven wrong, and that is why they are back at the table negotiating with UCU today.
Monday also saw one of our members picketing despite it being her birthday, and the introduction of a new BU UCU mascot – Polly the parity parrot.
Today, we are back on the line again. Be like Polly, and fight with us for parity by coming down to the line and saying hi!
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 