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Bristol is implementing a 'reward' system on pay. Substantial numbers of staff - overwhelmingly non-academic - have been red-lined, which means that the University believes they are overpaid in the current, local, market. 21% of secretaries are scheduled to experience a real loss of pay of 12%+ as are 44% of craftworkers. Tne AUT (sorry UCU) has recommended the deal to its members as the 'best available' and got a positive vote at a meeting! On Fri, 2 Mar 2007, jon swords wrote: > A couple of points... > > Firstly, the point is surely not that VCs get paid 6 figure salaries but they > get double figure pay rises. > > Secondly, universities aren't all bad. At Newcastle we recently had a dispute > about TA pay to take first year tutorials. At the start of this academic year > the faculty decided to cut our pay by a third for teaching this module > (without any consultation!). As you can imagine we weren't happy about it and > kicked up a fuss. Dispite some apathy on the part of some postgrads the > geography dept did listen and responded positively. So, although we didn't > get the money we wanted, TAs are now represented on the school Board of > Studies and Teaching and Learning Committee. We also have much more ownership > of the module which, we feel, benefits the undergrads. > > That said, it would be nice to see TA pay rises to match inflation each year. > > Jon > > >> From: Storey AI <[log in to unmask]> >> Reply-To: Storey AI <[log in to unmask]> >> To: [log in to unmask] >> Subject: Re: how much is your VC worth? >> Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2007 19:39:00 -0000 >> >> It is heartening to know we can join the UCU but...... >> >> Perhaps the problem is that postgraduates working in 'the machine' don't >> recognise how they're being exploited. I mean, I sit here and I moan >> about not having a formal contract for the TA work I do; not getting >> paid enough; not getting paid on time, or even at all; having unpaid >> prep time eat into my thesis. I sit and I moan about all these things, >> with good reason, but really it's all a side show. The real issue is >> that the university exploits our intellectual property to advance its >> own selfish interests. We sit around for three years and write >> marvelous, incisive theses which are turned into papers and books, and >> then the university claims all the credit for it at the next research >> assessment exercise. As a reward we get paid a fraction of what we >> would for research in the private sector, we are ignored when we vent >> legitimate grievances to the univesity authorities or our finding >> councils, and we get landed with low-paid teaching work that we have to >> do to pad out our CVs. And all the time we're told that we're "valued". >> >> My suspicion is that universities would far rather we spent our energy >> complaining about the pay scales for ad-hoc teaching than the fact that >> we have to whore our intellectual property to the RAE so VC's can >> trouser a six-figure salary. >> >> >> >> >> Andy >> >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: A forum for critical and radical geographers >> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ant Ince >> Sent: 01 March 2007 18:38 >> To: [log in to unmask] >> Subject: Re: how much is your VC worth? >> >> >> as a PhD student who teaches from time to time, as well as having >> somewhat radical unionist views, i've struggled with this a lot >> recently. >> >> i saw very little student activity in support of the strike and ASOS >> earlier last year, and despite a lot of effort including leafletting, >> networking with other student groups and - if anyone read my >> not-very-well-articulated intervention in antipode - baking cakes, and >> the result was expectedly minimal. indeed, i was disgusted that >> Liverpool Guild of Students, whose president at the time was a good >> friend of mine, organised a demonstration against their own lecturers. >> needless to say he and i are no longer such good friends! >> >> as far as i can tell, a fair few students did not cross picket lines >> that day, but on a pessimistic note, there were most likely two reasons >> for this: the fact that many students live within a few yards of their >> lecture theatres, thus living on the wrong side of the pickets anyway, >> and the fact that those who lived outside did not turn up because most >> of their lectures had been cancelled. a fair few people i spoke to >> didn't even know that you're not supposed to cross picket lines (and >> even fewer knew it was called 'scabbing'). >> >> anyway, i'm rambling... >> >> from my own experience of being and being around grad students, i get >> the impression that many of us are highly politicised, articulate, and >> keen to see equality and justice. however, part of the problem as i see >> it is a disparity between distant others' and one's own position in 'the >> >> machine'. it is easy to say 'poor little african kid with a swollen >> belly - what awful global trade rules!'. there's a harrowing, visual >> anchor around which one can sympathise. it's extreme, and no-one could >> disagree that that kid is being killed unnecessarily. however it is hard >> >> to explain the link between that little african kid and the fact that >> TAs don't get formal contracts or guaranteed hours. even harder to >> explain the reason why both the little african kid and your TA work are >> reasons why you should never cross a picket line. >> >> in a way it can sometimes stem from a bit of a privileged standpoint - >> "i'm english and well-educated so my boss would never dare to screw me >> over." but in another way there are so many pressures to perform, so >> many hoops to jump through, so much to cram into three years, that we >> tend not to think about our own situation. in this second respect, with >> high pressure to perform, and little time or money to spare, our >> situation is very similar to many of the 'proper' teaching and support >> staff. >> >> damn i'm still rambling, and even less coherently than before. okay. >> i'll stop. a few bullet points (lecturers LOVE bullet points) to state a >> >> bit more succinctly why i think TAs aren't storming the VC's office and >> organising their own unions: >> >> - lack of energy/time/cash outside studies >> - commitment to furthering academic career at any cost >> - short-term degrees: "what's in it for me? i'll be long gone before any >> >> gains are seen" >> - no examples of TAs organising and winning gains in the UK >> - ethical emphasis (seen through a paternalistic liberal gaze) on >> distanciated others. >> - lack of class analysis (wahey! i had to get that one in there >> somewhere!) >> - a belief that NUS is 'for' undergrads and UCU is 'for' lecturers. thus >> >> leaving no real or imagined space for postgrads. >> - an obsession with 'critical' things (dare i say it, cf. the >> paternalistic liberal ethics of the 'african kid' example above), and >> disregard for more radical ideas (one of my pet hates at the moment) >> - a lack of understanding of what unions actually do. >> - a lack of respect for what unions actually CAN do if you pull yer >> finger out and do it. >> - for the more radical TAs among us, or for TAs who have been in unions >> in the past, a scepticism about the fact that unions seem to do very >> little and tend to roll over like a puppy dog whenever management tells >> them to do so :-D >> - a feeling that unions are a bit boring and generally for grey-haired >> old men. [disclaimer: i am actually in a union, and before you ask, i >> don't agree with this one - unions are for young sexy hip kids] >> >> of course, however, these are my subjctive impressions... >> >> ant >> >> Storey AI wrote: >> > On a related point Ant, speaking of the people lower down the chain of >> >> > command who have to shoulder the burden of university work: we've >> > heard a lot recently about the university lecturers pay dispute, and >> > we're all aware of what a strong force for the good the UCU and its >> > antecedents were in negotiating a fair settlement for faculty. I'm >> > sure graduate students are grateful for the sacrifices our colleagues >> > have made to ensure a better deal for us when we get academic posts. >> > But what about those unrepresented hordes of graduate students in the >> > UK who mark papers, take tutorials and seminars and lead field >> > classes? Like junior faculty, the pay's not good and we get taken for >> >> > a ride a lot. Unlike junior faculty, we have no union, no >> > representation, no recourse. Ad-hoc teaching is underpaid and the >> > people who do it undervalued. Our sole channel for redress is >> > directly to the employer with no collective voice. >> > >> > Lecturers have the UCU. VCs have their own little club, I'm sure - I >> > forget the acronym. In North America, graduate TAs very often have >> > collective bargaining rights. In the UK we have nothing. Why? >> > >> > Andy >> > >> > -----Original Message----- >> > From: A forum for critical and radical geographers >> > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ant Ince >> > Sent: 01 March 2007 09:50 >> > To: [log in to unmask] >> > Subject: how much is your VC worth? >> > >> > >> > from THES: http://www.thes.co.uk/upload/2035374/VCpay0506.pdf >> > >> > ant >> > >> >> -- >> >> Anthony Ince >> Research Student >> Department of Geography, >> Queen Mary, University of London, >> Mile End, >> E1 4NS >> >> www.geog.qmul.ac.uk/postgraduate/student/ince.html >> >> www.iww.org.uk > > _________________________________________________________________ > Solve the Conspiracy and win fantastic prizes! > http://www.theconspiracygame.co.uk/ > -- Prof Ron Johnston FBA School of Geographical Sciences University of Bristol Bristol BS8 1SS UK phone +44 117 928 9116 FAX +44 117 928 7878 http://www.ggy.bris.ac.uk/staff/staff_johnston.html