Day 4 Round-up: A Busy Picket Line With Lots of Visitors!
Today’s picket was upbeat with slightly better weather than the previous days. We had lots of support, with Andrew Dunne, Labour parliamentary candidate for Christchurch joining the picket along with two representatives of the BU Professoriate, Prof Allan Webster and Prof Changhong Lui. We also had an unexpected but welcome visit from John Vinney and Jim Andrews of the BU UET, who stopped by to discuss the concerns of staff.
We heard more accounts from staff on why they are striking, including a candid and emotional post from one academic who feels pushed to leave the profession because of the pressure put on her by an unachievable workload. Please see the daily diary entry to read this, and for further posts and videos.
Day 4: Why I am Leaving…
Below is a personal account of an academic who has decided that the pressures of the job are too much, and so she is going to leave the profession. What she says here is relatable for many of us, and helps to explain why so many of us are striking this November.
Staff are at breaking point and I’m broken.
I have been teaching at the university for 8 years. It’s my second career and I fell into it quite by accident, as a way to earn money as a self-funded PhD student. But I found that I loved teaching. I still love teaching. I just can’t afford the personal cost anymore; I’m leaving.
It has been a heart-wrenching, soul-searching decision to leave teaching. I’ve always worked extra hours as a lecturer because the workload plan simply doesn’t allow time to do the job properly. (It doesn’t include half of the things I do, either, but that’s another matter). I love teaching enough to want to do as good a job as I possibly can for my students. My philosophy has been that it’s my choice to do that, and the joy and privilege of teaching make it worthwhile. It’s a pity that the university doesn’t recognise the time it takes to make things the best they can be for students. The admin burden is also a nightmare (not the admin staff, who are also under the cosh). But weighed in the balance, the utter joy of the job has until recently tipped the scales enough to keep me going.
This semester, though, I have been on the back foot from the start. I’ve been permanently behind on replying to emails, I’ve sat in endless meetings, I’ve jumped through hoops to show that I satisfy arbitrary, hasty, unevidenced and relentlessly enforced policies that will do nothing to increase students’ satisfaction. Instead of being given time to provide quality feedback, I’ve been told to flag almost everything I say to students as “feedback” so they know that they’ve received some. I have obediently listed my office hours (which students never use) in my email footer instead of having the time to spend with them that they need. I care, though, and deeply, so I DO take the time to talk to them, whenever they need, even though I don’t have it to spare. One of my Deans would say I shouldn’t do this because it sets unrealistic expectations. I say it should not have to be unrealistic that academics have time for their students.
Despite the long hours and the ever-growing backlog of emails and tasks I have struggled on, not really having time to stop and reflect. The promotion and pay progression process changed that. I’m fortunate to have a proper contract in a job that pays a salary above the national average (if we ignore hourly rate!) so for me personally this isn’t about money. It’s about fairness: the appropriate grade for the work I do and a salary commensurate with men doing the same work. I was very upset to get neither of those despite what I consider to be the best year of my teaching career. The feedback showed me that the university neither understands nor values what I do. It forced me, hard, to stop and reflect. When I did I realised that the balance has shifted.
This semester I have a light teaching load, notwithstanding the demands of one unit being unique and brand new. I’m also a Programme Leader, a project supervisor and an academic advisor. Next semester, I have a very different, very heavy teaching load and the projects will be in full swing. I realised I’m already working evenings, working weekends and getting behind in this “light” semester – and I am already exhausted.
Teaching has been such a joy. I thought I was in it until retirement age and would even then be one of those old lecturers who can’t quite give it up and works part-time. But I literally can’t do it anymore. When I stopped and reflected I became aware of serious health implications which I don’t want to go into here. It is with a regret so enormous that I don’t know how to express it that I am leaving teaching. I dread telling my lovely students. This will be identifiable by some staff and that’s fine; students are the only reason it’s anonymous. They don’t know yet and I want to be able to tell them the arrangements to replace me when I tell them I’m leaving. I care far too much to put them in the limbo of “I don’t know yet” if I can avoid it. I will miss them. I will miss them SO much. I think many of them will miss me. But I have to take better care of myself, and it’s absolutely not in my nature to achieve that by doing a perfunctory job. I’m striking to try to help pull things back from breaking point for those who stay, but it’s too late for me. With tears in my eyes, I am leaving.Edit
Day 4: UET Pay a Visit to the Picket!
We found Vinney! John Vinney and Jim Andrews have visited the picket line on Day 4 of the strike to hear from the staff about why they are striking, and what they need from BU. More information to follow.
Day 4: Special Guests and Conspicuous Absences
Today we have had support from Andrew Dunne, Labour parliamentary candidate for Christchurch, who has joined our picket in solidarity. But where is John Vinney? If anyone sees him, please let him know we are happy to welcome him on the picket line so that he can talk to staff about the pressures they are under.
Day 4: Smiles All Around
It seems that the good weather has lifted our picketers’ spirits! Come down to talk to us about why we are on strike, and we might even share our biscuits with you.
Day 4: Here Comes The Sun
Day four of the strike, and finally it looks like we are going to have some sun on the picket line. Once again, our picketers have come together to carry that weight of strike action. Luckily, they are prepared with cakes to keep morale up on the picket line.
Overnight, our cause gained international support from academic friends in China who are behind our strike. We are fighting excessive workloads, precarious contracts, the pay gap for female and BAME academics, and an overall pay decline in the past decade, issues that academics around the world can relate to.
Our picketers are already out and in good spirits, so feel free to join us down on the line and show your support.
