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This was an incredibly necessary and momentous seminar - @ucu finally starting a campaign to recognise PGRs as staff, not students.
As PhD "students", we get:
- no furlough/sick leave
- no pension contributions
- rejected for mortgages
- 40+ hr working weeks (+teaching)
-
--> https://twitter.com/ucu/status/1331568453841346560
As PhD "students", we get:
- no furlough/sick leave
- no pension contributions
- rejected for mortgages
- 40+ hr working weeks (+teaching)
-
--> https://twitter.com/ucu/status/1331568453841346560
It is vital that PGR labour is recognised. Too often the measly "stipend" we are given (average ÂŁ1200/mo) is seen as an award of academic merit that we should be grateful for. If uni staff were paid below min wage it would be illegal. For PGRs it is the norm. (cc: @PandemicPGRs )
Universities cannot function without casual PGR labour, and many operate a culture of fear such that PGRs, given so little stipend that they have no choice but to accept casual teaching jobs, cannot complain about the shockingly bad & precarious conditions that we work under.
A PGR I know once complained about how little they were paid by a top ranked UK university to mark the work of 90 undergrad students on a tight deadline, with no overtime, and subsequently was passed over for other teaching jobs that they applied for (& relied on for income)
A PGR I know once accepted a job tutoring and worked 30+ hours on it before the uni even gave them a contract, due to "payroll problems", at which point they were owed over ÂŁ500 in pay and had to take out a loan to cover their living costs that month.
A PGR I know was once told by their supervisor that if they accepted a teaching job, they would need to make up the hours that they "missed" in the laboratory by working evenings, weekends and lunch breaks, despite the fact they were providing a vital service to the university.
A PGR I know told me that they were seriously considering taking up the job as a uni managed pre-xmas covid-19 test facilitator, involving direct contact with hundreds of undergrads. The total pay was ÂŁ250 for 3 x 5 hour shifts, which they said was worth the risk of death.
@ucu @UCUAnti_Cas
There are thousands more of these stories. For every PGR like me who speaks out there are 100 who are too scared, who are worried they'll lose their visa, who have families to feed, who can't take this risk. We need change now.
There are thousands more of these stories. For every PGR like me who speaks out there are 100 who are too scared, who are worried they'll lose their visa, who have families to feed, who can't take this risk. We need change now.
