Thread. Tomorrow begins the #UCUStrike. I have so so many thoughts and feelings about this. @bigfridge224 has a thread about the difficulties of precarity, and @KatExe about the impact this has on student staff relationships. Both say eloquently much of what I feel.

The reality is much of what this #UCUStrike is about impacts me. #Precarity #Casualisation #Pensions and #PayGap. But the fact is I can’t actually strike as much as I want to. I did the math. I’m on a part time temporary contract. December’s pay will be my last until...?

Because of the fractional nature of my contract, if I strike and claim from strike fund, I will lose more than half of my last month’s salary. I simply can’t do it no matter how much I want to. And isn’t this the point?

Those of us who potentially benefit the most from the #UCUStrike are in situations that make it impossible for us to strike. I haven’t felt I can even afford @ucu membership and have no idea if I’ll still be in HE in 3, 6, 12 months.

That’s not even taking into account I’d miss out on the last two weeks of teaching my students. I love my students... at every uni I’ve been at. In the last week 3 have told me they don’t want to lose me. If I had a permanent job every time a student said that...

I’d have had 7 permanent jobs by now. I have said time and again I think the only way casualisation changes in when unis feel the impact. How do we get it into league tables? Questions in the #NSS maybe? 1. Have your studies been impacted by temporary or pt lecturing staff?

2. How many personal tutors have you had during your degree programme? 3. Have you been unable to work on a final year project/MA/PhD with the person you want because they are temporary staff? 4. Do you feel your university provides adequate staff for your degree programme?

I explained my work history and the strike to my students. They were stunned. Stunned. The pay cuts. The moving across country. The stress. It is physically and mentally harmful. That impacts my ability to teach and mentor to my best ability. I hate that. We all hate that.

But this is the system that UKHE has created & many at higher levels want to perpetuate. It’s unconscionable, not just for your HE staff, but for students, for young people and the future of, well, everything. When did education not become a thing of value for the benefit of all?