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(Thread) The last strike was the first time I've been on strike for more than a day. It was *hard*. Most obviously, as a precariously employed ECR whose partner had recently been unemployed for several months, I could *not* afford to lose 15 days pay.
I'm in a slightly better position this year as P is in work. And thankfully the strike period is shorter. That said, 17 years of p/t study leaves you with debts. We have *no* savings.
(Correction- it was 14 years not 17. I had three years out of study along the way. It was 17 years between graduating with BA and submitting PhD.)
As precariously-employed ECRs go, I'm wildly fortunate. All my really short-term contracts happened as a PGR, when I had a permanent p/t job outside of academia. So I never had to depend on short-term contracts for my *main* income.
Also, the OU has been my main employer in HE. It is not only the best and most important uni in the world, but also has better Ts and Cs than most. Anyone who reads my tweets know how fiercely proud I am of my institution. (if you're new, see here- https://twitter.com/hbowescatton/status/974784685686558720)
That said. Come January 12th, I'll have been a full-time academic at OU for five years, and I'm still on a FTC. I had a 2 year one, then a 3 year one (which overlapped with each other), then a few months' extension, then a year's extension. My current contract expires 31/7/20.
The constant uncertainty affects my ability to do my job well, and it affects my MH, and it affects my family's ability to plan for the future. I'm 43. I've decided not to have a second child. Precarity was a significant factor in my decision.
And like I say, I'm fortunate. Many of my peers are working several hourly-paid, termly contracts at once, across two or three institutions.
The more marginalised identities you have, the more likely you are to be precarious, and the more precarious you're likely to be, because you're less likely to have a financial buffer (savings, family in a better £ situation) or a social one (access to privileged networks).
I'm a woman, and I'm queer, and working class, and fat, and none of these things help. But I'm cisgender and I can pass for middle-class and straight when I need to. And- the big one- I'm white.
What I'm saying is, I'm relatively privileged and fortunate to have a good employer, but my situation is far from optimal. So it must be SUPER HARD for everyone else.
We have a big gender and an even bigger race pay gap problem. Precarity is also gendered and racialised. Relatedly, we have a massive representation problem. Relatedly, we have a structurally classist, sexist and racist HE sector.
The people we MOST NEED in the sector are the people who are priced out of it.
So that's why I voted 'yes' to strike action and ASOS on two of the three issues we're striking about. For myself. For my peers. For the PGRs I work with every day. For the people kept out of PGR study by this messed-up situation.
(I also voted yes on the pensions issue, but I will write about that in another thread later). #UssStrike #Solidarity
