I am on strike, picketing in person and on the #DigitalPicketLine (no work tweets) #UCUstrike. We are striking about pensions and work conditions, especially precarity and pay gaps. I got my first permanent job at age 46 - here's my story (thread): 1/n

I did my career the wrong way round: a masters, then 3 years as a research assistant, during which I had my first child. Both University and funder denied responsibility for maternity pay, but I joined the Union (then AUT) and eventually got an ex gracia payment. 2/n

When oldest child was 1 I started PhD, 2nd was born half way thro', and 3rd the week after submitting. No maternity pay for those, not even statutory. My PhD grant did not cover the child-care (let alone other things) and Uni nursery was not open to children of students. 3/n

For the next 15 years I worked on short term research grant contracts, mostly paid 50% FTE, but sometimes as low as 10% to make the contract stretch out, and hourly paid teaching. 4/n

To be fair this was largely my choice: I only wanted to work part time. But one important source of gender pay gaps is women choosing 'family friendly' routes with low progression. My permanent appointment was to the lowest rung possible despite considerable experience. 5/n

Throughout this, my partner had a good job. I would not have had the luxury of working on short term research contracts if I had been the main wage earner. I was lucky. 6/n

This route was not easy, but I chose it. Virtually all young academics are now forced into many years of fixed term research contracts, or exploitative 9-month teaching-replacement contracts, or hourly paid work which does not cover preparation or marking. 7/n

I am striking to preserve my pension, because my pay has stagnated, and because of the many iniquities associated with the marketisation of education. But I am also striking to end the normalisation of precarity and the exploitation of younger academics. 8/8