Strike Day
Today sees university lecturers go on strike for a better pay deal, to be followed tomorrow with the start of industrial action. This comes in the form of marking sanctions meaning our work won't be marked. Should the demands of the unions not be met then this could be very bad for students like myself. There is, however, a glimmer of hope which comes in the form of large support for increased pay from MPs.
I'll admit I don't know all there is to know regards this pay situation. I do know lecturers here in Wales suffer due to the Welsh Assembly (that's £67 millions worth of building) and that perhaps the situation is similar in Scotland. Their devolved 'governments' are an extra layer between the British Government's education funding and the universities in those respective countries.
What bugs me is how the unions are treating degree students. We're not a bargaining tool afterall. We're paying a lot of money for a decent education and as such it's sad to see the AUT and certainly Natfhe (whose attitude I liken to a Daily Mail reader) being so keen to boycott our futures. At least the UCEA are taking a more gentile approach to the issue at hand - and don't directly support the industrial action that'll follow today's strike.
I'm glad we live in a free society that allows people to stand for their beliefs. My only regret is finding this freedom has lead to me and other students becoming an object for the teaching unions to dangle in front of the government like some political voodoo doll. As if they think I can blame the government for their angst... it's childish.
The socialist within me cries for saying that.
I'll admit I don't know all there is to know regards this pay situation. I do know lecturers here in Wales suffer due to the Welsh Assembly (that's £67 millions worth of building) and that perhaps the situation is similar in Scotland. Their devolved 'governments' are an extra layer between the British Government's education funding and the universities in those respective countries.
What bugs me is how the unions are treating degree students. We're not a bargaining tool afterall. We're paying a lot of money for a decent education and as such it's sad to see the AUT and certainly Natfhe (whose attitude I liken to a Daily Mail reader) being so keen to boycott our futures. At least the UCEA are taking a more gentile approach to the issue at hand - and don't directly support the industrial action that'll follow today's strike.
I'm glad we live in a free society that allows people to stand for their beliefs. My only regret is finding this freedom has lead to me and other students becoming an object for the teaching unions to dangle in front of the government like some political voodoo doll. As if they think I can blame the government for their angst... it's childish.
The socialist within me cries for saying that.
posted by Matthew E Cornish at
08:59
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