Day 8 – Loud, Proud, and Boosted by Free Coffee
Our picketers are in good spirits on the final day of the UCU strike, and are making their presence known with loud speakers and whistles, backed by the honking of supportive drivers as they pass the picket line.
A shout out goes out to the local Starbucks branch who came out to support the picketers with free coffee, we are certainly #BUproud of Miguel and George who provided the drinks!
Day 8 – A Big Ending to a Huge Strike!
Last day of the strike and our staff are still out on the line in large numbers. We are also showing support to the railway strikers holding their picket just down the road from ours. Solidarity!!
Day 7 – Still Holding Strong!
Day 7 – Back On The Line
The picketers are back out in force again on the picket line today! Today they have been joined by David Stokes, Labour candidate for Bournemouth West.
The strike may be into its second week, but there is still a clear lack of staff presence on campus.
Come on down to the picket to say hi!Edit
Day 6 – The Digital Roundup
Today was a successful virtual strike day, with staff tweeting, posting and sharing their support for the strike.
BUUCU held a #digitalpicketline and have seen very little tweeting about work activities for Bournemouth University. We have, however, seen a lot of tweeting and re-tweeting about our working conditions.
The fantastic BU UCU comms team are doing a great job of raising awareness about our killer workloads and despite the Vice Chancellor’s denial, the increasing casualisation and zero hours contracts at BU.
In a staggeringly tone-deaf ‘Open letter to Students’ the vice chancellor made claims about the gender pay gap and casualisation that truly beggars belief.
We have begun what we hope will be an open dialogue with members of the BU Board of Governors who cannot be doing due diligence on Bournemouth University as otherwise they would know that they are reneging on their responsibilities and duties as governors. We note disappointingly that we still don’t have an academic staff member on the Board of Governors.
Tomorrow certainly is another day. Let’s make it the biggest picket line yet. Scott Alexander, one of our regional officials, will be joining us on the picket line at Talbot campus. We’ve got a load of new whistles, and we are not afraid to use them. There will also be cake, yes you heard it here, cake!
Be sure to wrap up warm, and bring your dancing boots!Edit
Day 6: Back To The Picket…Virtually
After a well-earned weekend, the BU Strike picket line takes on a digital presence today. Our digital picket line will take place across the website and our various social media handles, so follow us, share, retweet, and contribute by telling us your stories about why you are striking, or why you support the strike.
Here is a reminder of some of the reasons why we are striking:
- Female academics at BU and across the sector make 15% 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 fighting against casualisation, with many lecturers on zero-hour contracts and some barely making £10 an hour. There are an astonishing 16,165 zero hours contracts in the HE sector. Imagine that!
- BU UCU is 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.
Of course we are sad that we have to strike, and sadder still that students felt that they had to petition BU to get them to listen. One student says ”This is affecting my learning; I believe in what the lecturers are striking for but it shouldn’t have come to this”.
Click here to see and sign the petition
We made this short video to explain why, reluctantly, we are taking strike action:
Tomorrow and Wednesday we will be back on the picket line in physical form, so please come down to the Poole House or Poole Gateway pickets, learn more about what we’re doing and why, and help support your lecturers and professional services staff with some hot drinks and something to eat!
Day 5: What a week that was! The Week 1 Roundup:
Wow. Simply, wow. Our first five days of UCU strike action have been even more successful than we hoped, with an incredible turn out from branch members, and an outpouring of support from SUBU, students from across the university, colleagues from throughout the country and the world, and from the local public.
Despite a grim start to the week in torrential rain, our BU picket volunteers gave their all out at the Poole Gateway building, soon attracting the attention and backing of passing cars, and persuading students to support their lecturers and professional staff by not crossing the picket line. Our efforts were swiftly picked up by the local and regional media, with supportive pieces appearing on BBC Wessex, ITV South Today and the Bournemouth Echo in rapid succession. Local parliamentary candidates also turned out to show their support, acknowledging that the state of higher education is an issue at the heart of policy, and requires systemic, as well as local, change.
On Day 2, the effects of the strike were evident, with an eerily deserted campus, empty buses, and very few people willing to cross the pickets. Our volunteers outside of the Gateway were cheered by another visit from SUBU with hot drinks and plenty of cakes, and the efforts of our branch were recognised by the regional heads, who said our emerging Star Wars theme was one of the best they’d seen!
Day 3 saw more empty classrooms, some (slightly) better weather, and time for reflection with various colleagues sharing their reasons for striking, and talking about the incredibly difficult working conditions they have faced during their time at BU. Watching their videos is difficult, but necessary viewing, and acts as a reminder that striking is our last resort, and that something has to be done.
On Day 4, the university executive team finally deigned to visit the pickets. VC John Vinney and Chief Operating Officer Jim Andrews visited the Poole House picket and spoke with UCU members for about 20 minutes. This was the strongest indication yet that our actions are having an effect – a week ago the silence from UET was deafening; now, we know they can hear us, but let’s see if they truly listen.
Finally, Day 5 saw the branch picket at Lansdowne outside Bournemouth House and the EBC. Again attracting more support from our brilliant students and the public as seen over on the media pages, UCU BU rounded out the week with a successful day of action, and a well-earned trip to the pub!
We’ll see you again after the weekend, where on Monday we’ll be maintaining our online presence but will be giving our volunteers a day to recharge. Remember: hold the line. Strike action means not working, even though the temptation to is stronger than ever. The strike is not just the picket, it’s the withdrawal of your labour, so spend the weekend with friends and family, take a long walk in the winter sunshine, visit a museum, read that novel you’ve been meaning to get around to since forever, imagine the many ways we could make university a better place for all, or simply just do nothing for once.
#UCUstrikesback #StrikeBUEdit
Day 5: The Life of an Hourly Paid Tutor
Below is a personal account of an academic who has agreed to share their experiences about working in higher education on casual contracts. What they say here is relatable for many of us, and helps to explain why strike action is no easy decision, buta last resort in the face of unreasonable conditions and expectations.
The first time I missed teaching a seminar was seven years ago, when my mother died while I was doing my PhD and starting as a graduate teaching assistant (at an HE institution that was not Bournemouth University)—and even then I only missed one seminar, teaching the following session the week after she was buried. The second time was later that year at that same institution, when I had the stomach ‘flu. The spirit was sort of willing but the flesh was very, very weak. Today is the third.
At all the universities where I’ve been a part-time hourly-paid employee since 2012, the instinct to keep going at all costs, to not let students down, to not cause difficulties for overworked colleagues, has led me to give lectures through hacking coughs, and lead seminar discussions where students flinch backwards every time I sneeze, as I try to laugh it off with comments like “and I thought I was too old for fresher’s flu.” This instinct is not purely due to work ethic or sense of responsibility, of course—it’s also driven by the fact that I don’t get paid for teaching hours that are cancelled or covered by someone else, and I need the money. I’m not getting paid today.
I am, of course, against the exploitation of lecturers. Having the energy, stability, and emotional space, as well as the time and resources, to support and educate students as they deserve is, I think, a worthy cause—which is why I’m out here. And yet it hurts to be out here, to be missing my lecture, in a visceral way I didn’t expect when I was carefully considering the pros and cons of joining the union and the strike. I care about my students, and I care about their experience, and I want to do my best for them. I don’t think I’ve always been able to give them my best as a part-time hourly-paid employee on a casual contract—and that hurts to admit as well.
Since my PhD funding ended in July 2013, I haven’t always known how I’d get through the period between July, when the final pay for marking dissertations comes in, and the end of November, when pay for October’s teaching comes in. I’ve been quite fortunate with side-hustles, including stints as an admin assistant for the NHS, and data entry for a housing association. I’ve moved about six times since 2013, renting rooms in other people’s homes, carrying boxes of books that I haven’t had time to open, between five towns in three counties.
I’ve been teaching at Bournemouth University since September 2016. I get paid for a certain amount of time to mark an essay and write constructive feedback, no matter how long it actually takes. I get paid to watch student presentations, but not for typing up my notes and uploading feedback. I get paid for delivering an hour-long lecture; this usually includes actually writing the lecture or updating last year’s lectures with current examples and up-to-date scholarship. For most of the research and publications I produce, I don’t get paid—and yet they feed into my teaching (and of course are required by my job, and for any hope of a permanent full-time post). Based on my past experiences at other institutions, and situations shared by early career researchers and PTHPs on Twitter over the last few days (#ucustrikesback), my situation here is a lot better than it could be elsewhere—at least I am paid for contact hours, and paid for marking essays at all. This is an odd sort of thing to feel grateful for.
I still consider myself fortunate. I have great colleagues, and line managers who genuinely make the effort to be supportive, within the scope allowed by their resources and budgets and the wider university management. I have the prospect of a permanent part-time post in the near future, but it’s very hard to feel a sense of stability and security—I’ll celebrate when I’ve signed a contract, I keep telling well-meaning colleagues and friends. I get to read and write and ask questions about things I hugely enjoy and care about, and share them with students who have sharp insights and questions, and who are funny and curious.
Most of all, I’m fortunate because I’m not yet at the point where I start asking why bother sitting up late to try to craft a helpful piece of advice, or to rewrite a lecture, or redesign a unit in a way that might be more intuitive and useful for students, or getting to know students I may not ever see again. But I know that if something doesn’t change, for me and the colleagues I care about—possibly even the sector—I might start asking these questions soon.
My mother was a sixth-form teacher; I saw how she remembered her students even years afterwards, how proud she was to see their skills develop. I occasionally get to see how they still remember her. I would like to be able to do the same, and I would like to leave some sort of positive impression, some sort of legacy. I would like to be able to do this without breaking myself.
#UCUstrikesback #StrikeBUEdit
Day 5: UCU BU take Lansdowne!
This morning, UCU BU members have gathered at the university’s Lansdowne campus and marched in support of better working conditions in higher education.
Local residents, passers-by and motorists showed their support by stopping to chat, supporting the march, and, of course, through plenty of honking!
Despite the VC’s visit this week, it seems that Universities UK and UCEA are still reluctant to sit down with UCU negotiators and find a solution to the ongoing industrial action. One thing is clear though: at the end of week 1, support for the Union and its action is going from strength to strength!
#UCUstrikesback #StrikeBU
Day 5: UCU Response to the VC’s Visit
When John Vinny and Jim Andrews came to the picket line yesterday we were delighted to see them. Staff talked to the vice chancellor about casualisation and impossible workloads. The response from the Vice Chancellor was that he believed we had very few casual contracts, and he appeared to be surprised to learn that we do indeed have many.
Gender Pay Gap & BU2025
He was also quite keen to impress upon us the BU2025 plan to end the gender pay gap by 2025. Members on the picket line don’t accept that that is a reasonable timeframe not least because as Marian Mayer pointed out we have been working on the gender pay gap at the University for at least the last for five years with no progress.
Pay Progression & Promotion
In answer to Marian’s point that the recent pay progression and promotion process was shambolic and was one of the reasons why so many people were on the picket line this week, the Vice Chancellor responded that the University would look at the data around promotion for women, LGBT and BAME staff. When Marian pointed out that over a month ago grievances were submitted by academics who had not been shortlisted, the Vice Chancellor appeared to be surprised to learn this. One member of staff who has served as a member of the pay progression and promotion panel explained to the Vice Chancellor that the panels are not working, He gave detailed information about why they aren’t functioning including the fact that new panel members are inexperienced, not properly trained and there is a lack of consistency in decision-making. He also made the point that independent panel members and chairs are not always allowed to perform their functions because they are often undermined by other panel members.
Workload Planning
On workloads, having heard from a number of members, that they were working 50-60 hours per week, losing their evenings and weekends, the Vice Chancellor cited the workload planning model. When Marian Mayer pointed out that after five years this model is not being implemented, the Vice Chancellor talked about the workload-planning lead role that has recently put in place. When it was pointed out that again this year workload planning would not be properly implemented the VC didn’t really have an answer to this.
PGRs & Staff Leaving BU
Postgraduate researchers and research fellows talked to the Vice Chancellor about their workloads and poor remuneration; he seemed surprised to learn this. A senior colleague from the Faculty of Science and Technology talked about a colleague whose leaving do he would attend yesterday evening. This is a colleague dearly loved and respected by his students who brought vivid professional practice in the field to his teaching and who the faculty wanted to keep. SciTech colleagues spoke movingly about the desperate situation in that teaching team and the deep regret the colleagues and students feel about losing such a highly valued member of staff.
The Vice Chancellor responded that he knew about this case as it had been brought up in the SUBU Q&A with students earlier in the day. When both the Vice Chancellor and Jim Andrews talked about not knowing of this individual case and perhaps this being a consequence of interpretation of policies and procedures, Marian Mayer made the point that actually the responsibility for these issues lies with both of them. Jim Andrews is the Chief Operating Officer and is ultimately responsible for HR matters and John Vinney of course is the Chief Executive Officer of the University.
Joint Consultation & Negotiating Committee
Marian may have pressed Jim Andrews about the universities refusal to rearrange our joint consultation and negotiation meeting scheduled for the 5th of December. It would be impossible for BU UCU to plan for in order to submit an agenda for meaningful discussions. Again Jim Andrews, who would attend this meeting, appeared surprised that it wasn’t being rearranged and said he would look into this.
BU UCU Conclusions
Talking to members on the picket line after John Vinney and Jim Andrews left the overwhelming sense that whilst it was good of them to come down and talk to us, we didn’t really receive responses to any of our questions.
All of the points we made about casualisation inequality of opportunity for pay progression and promotion and of course casualisation seemed to come as a surprise to both John Vinney and Jim Andrews, and neither had any concrete ideas about how to address them.
Ultimately, it remains to be seen whether this was the start of meaningful negotiation, or just a good photo opportunity for BU under the direction of UCEA, and a chance to make out as though they are listening. One thing is clear though – UCU must keep up the pressure, so to all of you out on strike or on pickets today, hold the line!
#UCUstrikesback #StrikeBUEdit
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.
Day 3 Round-up: Broken and broke, but we’re still here!
The picket line was once again in full force today with support from students, family members and faithful companions, but there was no sign of the members of UET who had been invited down to discuss the staff’s concerns.
Today we talked to picketers about what drove them to join the strike, listening to stories of casualisation, unmanageable workloads, and stress. See the videos below for their stories. We also began a foodbank drive for those staff who will feel it financially taking part in a strike before Christmas.Edit
Day 3: Colleagues are Feeling it Financially
Today, we launch our food bank. To donate, make cheques payable to UCU Bournemouth University Branch SO024, or donate cash on the picket line. No one should be in a pickle fighting for equality! #UCUStrikesBack.
Day 3: Sweet and Sour
While the picketers are keeping their spirits up with some well earned sweets, we hear academics’ horror stories about what it’s like working in higher education in the current climate.
Day 3: Picket Line Holding Strong
Day three of the strike and the picket line is still strong despite the continuing damp weather!
empty rooms 
Day 2: An Empty Campus
The effect of the strike can be seen across a barren campus today.
Day 2: Our Students Stand With Us
Yet again the wonderful students over at SUBU have come out in a big way to support us.ImageEdit
Day 2: ‘Let it Rain’
A little bit of rain for a few days is nothing compared to years of systemic inequality and unfair pay.Edit
Day 2: Breakfast Call
SUBU and our students were brilliant yesterday, distributing hot drinks to keep our picketers warm!
It is Day 2 of our fight for equality, fair pay, stable work, and reasonable workloads.
You can help us by keeping the picket lines warm and well-fed. Given the weather reports this small gesture will go a long long way to help us. If it helps, take inspiration from our wonderful students who came to support us yesterday.
#UCUstrikesback #UCUstrikesImageEdit
Day 1: Strike Round-Up
Picketing may have stopped at noon today, but the industrial action continues! It has been an incredible first day, and UCU members have been heartened by all the outpouring of support from SUBU, students, and the local public alike.
Members were tweeting from 7.30am, with well over 200 tweets, and hundreds of views, likes and retweets throughout the day. The UCU Regional Office noticed the surprise Star Wars theme developing, and thought it one of the best they’d seen! The Force is clearly with us here at BU.
This website has had over 450 views today alone, with 214 unique visitors, so is clearly proving a useful place for information and updates – please keep sharing across your networks!
Out on Talbot Campus, SUBU made their presence felt by bringing much-needed hot drinks, as well as their backing. Some fantastic students from the BA English programme and others also came along with cakes, and to chat to striking staff.
Local and regional media picked up the story too, and we received some great coverage on BBC’s Dorset Breakfast, a write up from Wessex FM, and an honourable mention in an ITV report. If you’re looking for the national view, then The Guardian have offered perhaps the best editorial so far (though they forgot to acknowledge all the brilliant professional services staff, as well as lecturers, on strike).
Thank you again to everyone who has liked, shared, honked, waved a banner, taken a leaflet, stopped to chat, and demanded that BU take notice – UCU members thank you from the bottom of their hearts. We, the students and staff, are the university, and it was brilliant to see that spirit today.
We hope to see the same level of energy and effort tomorrow, so please do come on down to the pickets at Poole House/Gateway (Talbot) and Bournemouth House (Lansdowne), keep the coffee and cakes coming, and remember to keep sharing and supporting!
#UCUstrikesback #strikeBUEdit
Industrial action – DAY 1 Roundup.
UCU BU’s industrial action has got off to an incredible start with brilliant turn out from staff, and an overwhelming show of support and solidarity from students, the local public, media, pets, and parliamentary candidates!
Check out the below gallery for more images from the strike!
Bruno the picketing pooch! 
News media from across the country have been covering the action too, with particular mention of BU’s efforts on BBC Dorset Breakfast and a write up on WessexFM. ITV and BBC Solent will be covering the strikes as part of their evening news programmes so keep an eye on our Twitter feed for more updates.
UCU BU want to send an enormous thank you to everyone who came out to support us today – we’ll be back on the picket line tomorrow from 8am; see you there!Edit
Update – Strike impact on Talbot Campus.
Bournemouth University Executive Team believe the strike would have zero impact….
WRONG! Empty classrooms, lecture halls, and a dark, deserted campus. Students and SUBU are with us.
#UCUstrikesback #yourstrikestance
Updates – Picketing begins!
Picketing is off to a flying start at Talbot Campus this morning, with staff, students, and the public out in support of UCU’s industrial action!
Despite the weather, spirits are high – so come down and join our picket volunteers, find out more about the dispute, and back the strike!
SUBU have also been showing out in support after the overwhelmingly positive result of their poll before the weekend. Check out their Instagram here, and Twitter here for more updates.
#UCUstrikesbackEdit
Breakfast Runs – Support the Picket!
The BU UCU branch are out on the picket at Talbot and Lansdowne from 8am-12pm every day until the 4th December, starting today!
How can you get involved and support the picket? Well, even if you’re not an official Picket member you can come along, chat to us, and join us as a picket supporter, and – most importantly – you can help by keeping us well-supplied with tea, coffee, cakes, biscuits, and buns of all kinds!
Fighting for equality and fair pay, and against casualisation and excessive workloads is even tougher going at this time of year, so we’re grateful for all the support that staff and students can give us. So please come down to the Poole House or Poole Gateway pickets, learn more about what we’re doing and why, and help support your lecturers and professional services staff with some hot drinks and something to eat!
#UCUstrikesback
(With thanks to Cambridge UCU for the image inspiration!)Edit
*Breaking news* SUBU votes to support the strike!
SUBU have voted to stand in solidarity with UCU and striking BU staff. In a poll conducted between 21-22 November which collected over 900 votes, BU students support their lecturers and professional staff with 46.6% of votes cast backing industrial action, and 46.2% expressing sympathy for the aims of UCU. Only 7.2% of votes cast rejected industrial action.
UCU members are delighted by the support shown by the poll and across social media from our students over the past few days; students are at the heart of all we do as lecturers and professional services staff, and we are grateful for your backing. Thank you to all who took the time to vote!
SUBU’s latest statement on the poll can be viewed here: https://www.subu.org.uk/ucustrike/
#UCUstrikesback #yourstrikestanceEdit
New to Picketing?
Not sure what to bring on the picket line with you? Take a look at our list below!
It’s Time… Picket Time
Picketing is the most powerful, enduring symbol of industrial action. Picketing provides an opportunity to leaflet staff, students and members of the public and explain the reasons for our action. Any union member, work colleague or member of the public who approaches the picket line should be spoken to, given a leaflet and the reason for the strike explained to them in a polite and courteous manner.
StrikeBU 