As I cycled home from dropping two of my kids off at school this morning, I stopped by a picket line outside the Royal Grammar School, a private boys' school in the centre of Guildford. Teachers there are striking because the management are pushing through a withdrawal of staff from the teachers' pension scheme as they no longer want to pay the employer contributions. Alongside this, they wish to "fire and re-hire" staff, moving them to worse contracts. The striking staff understandably object to this, and have asked the management to negotiate, which I understand so far they have not been willing to do, and so this last resort of a strike is taking place.
I was happy to stop and lend what words of support and encouragement I could. One of my tasks today has been to fill in the form my employer asks me to fill in for those taking part in the legal industrial action currently happening in Universities. The Marking and Assessment Boycott is not affecting my activities too much, as I don't teach in the spring semester. However, I've been asked to do a small amount of marking and assessment related activity - amounting to something like one day of work. I have refused, in accordance with the current industrial action, and now face being on half pay. As with the union members following their own industrial action, so too the Universities are facing recommendations from UCEA to respond in a punitive manner and most are following through with that.
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