This is the email I just sent to all my students to explain why I continue to take part in strike action today.
Dear all,
Sincere apologies for this belated email.
I am writing to let you know that I am on strike today and that my lecture is cancelled as a result.
As you certainly know by now, the deal put forward by UUK and UCU negotiators was overwhelmingly rejected by colleagues across the country.
I spoke against the deal at the emergency meeting organised on campus yesterday morning. The result of our vote gives you a sense of the strength of feeling at Warwick. Out of the 120 attendees, 115 rejected the deal; 5 abstained; and no one voted in favour.
There are five main reasons why I voted against the proposed deal.
First, this deal was based on a valuation of the USS fund that has been fundamentally undermined by critiques. I am ready to be convinced by the valuation exercise. However, UUK has so far failed to demonstrate that the fund is in deficit. I don’t see why I should accept a baseless argument from UUK, when I keep banging on about the need to mobilise appropriate evidence in your essays!!!
Second, as I wrote yesterday, the deal would have represented a significant deterioration of our working conditions. Our accrual rate (the proportion of your final salary that you receive as pension for each year you are a member of the scheme) would have moved from 1/75 to 1/85. Our employee contribution would have been raised from 8 to 8.7%.
Third, the increase of our accrued pensions would have been capped at 2.5% per annum even though inflation is already past this mark. In other words, and for the foreseeable future, this deal effectively guaranteed a deterioration of our pensions (You will find a technical explanation here).
Fourth, the salary threshold for a move from a Defined Benefit regime to one of Defined Contributions would have been placed at £42k. This would have disproportionately affected early-career researchers. One of my jobs is to help PhD students and early-career researchers enter into the academic profession. I am not ready to betray them.
Fifth, the text of agreement evoked the need for “trust to be rebuilt following this dispute” and put the onus on striking staff to “minimise the disruption to students” by rescheduling lectures and classes. This did not only represent a violation of our right to withdraw our labour; it also implied that we are responsible for this situation. I reject and resent this assumption.
I would much, much rather be teaching history than striking and demonstrating (and reading about the intricacies of pension policy). We are well aware of the impact the strike has on our students; certainly more than the chief executive of UUK who never even worked as an academic. Every day of the strike costs us money; money we need to pay rent and bills. You can trust me when I say that I think long and hard about withdrawing my labour. This crisis was forced upon us by the leadership of UUK and we will not let them shy away from their responsibility.
They assumed that we would not practice the critical skills we endeavour to teach you; that we would blissfully accept further deterioration of our working conditions without checking the evidence put forward. Most fundamentally, they chose to shift their financial liability onto individual members of staff to improve their position on the financial markets. They effectively argue that the quality of a university is best expressed in shiny new buildings and fancy marketing campaigns. They believe you are not here to learn and grow, but to consume whatever products will be put in front of you.
They assume that, like them, you will prioritise the value of bonds over the true value of a university: its academic and administrative staff; their commitment to provide an education and not to sell degrees to unsuspecting punters. A university is first and foremost a community of learners and scholars. I do not care if you cannot translate the value of an education into credit ratings, for education is not a transaction. I know I am not a perfect teacher and scholar; I know my flaws and limitations. But I also know I care passionately about the work we do together in lecture halls and seminar rooms. For we – you, me, and our fellow students and scholars – are the university. This is also what is at stake here: the meaning of a university education and the worth of teachers, scholars, and administrators.
So we fight on, reluctantly but with resolve.
Best wishes,
Pierre
