Today, to mark our action on the Four Fights dispute, our focus turned to the #Justice4CollegeSupervisors campaign. After buzzing pickets this morning, our rally was dedicated to the scandal that is the college supervision system, where without proper contracts, and for absurdly low pay, supervisors deliver the teaching that makes this University run.
It’s not just PhD students and postdocs who suffer: as our latest report, covered in today’s Guardian, reveals, UTOs feel overworked and underpaid for the supervisions they do, facing pressure to take on unmanageable loads of teaching on top of their University roles.
At the end of the rally, we delivered over 600 postcards – collected from supervisors and potential supervisors over the past few weeks – to College and University management, calling on them to meet our three demands: fair contracts, fair pay, and paid training. To find out more about the campaign, check out the website. And here’s how to make sure we’ve got the University’s ear:
- Sign up to picket: for sites and all other details, check the branch email
- Invite your friends along to the pickets – if you haven’t been before, you’d be especially welcome tomorrow!
- Come to tomorrow’s rally, 12:00pm outside Great St Mary’s as usual
- Show your solidarity with the student occupation: see our statement, and add your name to show your support!
- Talk to your students: if you’re teaching tomorrow, why not take a moment to tell your students why you’ve been on strike, and answer any questions they have? One of our members has produced a toolkit to give you ideas on how to start up those conversations.
See you on the pickets!