The sea of bright pink signs across The University of Edinburgh in the past week will not have been welcomed by all. Least pleased by the demand flashed across the top, ‘Stop the Cuts,’ is perhaps Prof Sir Peter Mathieson, principal and staunch defender of his announcement of £140m cuts, compulsory redundancies and the closure of 90 programmes, which he insists amounts to protecting “future generations of students” who “won’t be able to benefit if the university is not in a financially resilient state”. Ironically, this attitude prizing longevity has not been applied to the jobs of academics without whom the university would cease to exist.
While Mathieson offers nothing beyond weaponizing lost teaching time to shame academics into submission, it is important to consider the role of students themselves when it comes to industrial action. Students and academics are often pitted against one another, particularly in conversations about strikes, but they are in much the same boat. The increasing casualisation of university education creates precarity not only for academic staff but for students too. Think bigger tutorial groups, fewer contact hours, the cutting of PhD tutoring, no tea and biscuits! Refreshments aside, this extraction of intellectual work and incessant desire to squeeze out financial benefit is set to culminate in 1,800 job cuts according to University and College Union estimates. Thus, collective action and unity is crucial.
Anthony Gorman, senior lecturer in Modern Middle Easter History, echoed this sentiment to me when I arrived at the picket line outside of 50 George Square last Tuesday. When asked where students slot into strike action, Gorman emphasised:“Staff and students have a common interest, our working conditions are your learning conditions”. Far from a hostile environment, the picket line is a place of conversation and community, offering students the chance to stand in solidarity with staff who lose 100% of their pay while striking.
As paying customers, students are in a position of power. This power is critical to the aims of industrial action: protecting job security, pedagogical values and the quality of university education. It’s dangerous to assume that these strikes are simply a five-week inconvenience, or that they don’t involve students’ interests at all. Even from a purely selfish standpoint, crossing the picket line is not a decision to be taken lightly. Rather than feeding into the rhetoric that students are a ‘bargaining chip’ for academics, I encourage a line of thought that sees an alliance between everyone who studies and works at the university. Academics are here to teach, and if they were motivated by anything close to Mathieson’s £400,000 annual salary, academia would hardly have been the obvious choice.
However, not all students have the same safety net to stay on the outside of a picket line. International students are often required to meet attendance requirements set by the Home Office in order to maintain their visa status. This concern was raised at the picket line on Tuesday, when one student explained that the planned length of UCU industrial action was only just short enough for her degree to still be recognised by the Chinese government. Every individual situation is different, and while it is impossible to generalise the experience and consequences of industrial action, those in a position to offer solidarity have a duty to protect the education of students who are left with no good options.
This is not about being ‘anti-establishment’, but about protecting the establishment that enables the flourishing of arts, sciences and critical thought. The University of Edinburgh should be defined by its commitment to academic engagement and the quality of learning, rather than by an extractive financial approach that risks eroding the institution from the top down.
Come to the picket line, speak to those taking part and learn something new. Industrial action cannot achieve change without solidarity from students. Do your part!
Image by Jenny Krasic for The Student
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Students and academics share a boat — they should share a picket line, too.
The sea of bright pink signs across The University of Edinburgh in the past week will not have been welcomed by all. Least pleased by the demand flashed across the top, ‘Stop the Cuts,’ is perhaps Prof Sir Peter Mathieson, principal and staunch defender of his announcement of £140m cuts, compulsory redundancies and the closure of 90 programmes, which he insists amounts to protecting “future generations of students” who “won’t be able to benefit if the university is not in a financially resilient state”. Ironically, this attitude prizing longevity has not been applied to the jobs of academics without whom the university would cease to exist.
While Mathieson offers nothing beyond weaponizing lost teaching time to shame academics into submission, it is important to consider the role of students themselves when it comes to industrial action. Students and academics are often pitted against one another, particularly in conversations about strikes, but they are in much the same boat. The increasing casualisation of university education creates precarity not only for academic staff but for students too. Think bigger tutorial groups, fewer contact hours, the cutting of PhD tutoring, no tea and biscuits! Refreshments aside, this extraction of intellectual work and incessant desire to squeeze out financial benefit is set to culminate in 1,800 job cuts according to University and College Union estimates. Thus, collective action and unity is crucial.
Anthony Gorman, senior lecturer in Modern Middle Easter History, echoed this sentiment to me when I arrived at the picket line outside of 50 George Square last Tuesday. When asked where students slot into strike action, Gorman emphasised:“Staff and students have a common interest, our working conditions are your learning conditions”. Far from a hostile environment, the picket line is a place of conversation and community, offering students the chance to stand in solidarity with staff who lose 100% of their pay while striking.
As paying customers, students are in a position of power. This power is critical to the aims of industrial action: protecting job security, pedagogical values and the quality of university education. It’s dangerous to assume that these strikes are simply a five-week inconvenience, or that they don’t involve students’ interests at all. Even from a purely selfish standpoint, crossing the picket line is not a decision to be taken lightly. Rather than feeding into the rhetoric that students are a ‘bargaining chip’ for academics, I encourage a line of thought that sees an alliance between everyone who studies and works at the university. Academics are here to teach, and if they were motivated by anything close to Mathieson’s £400,000 annual salary, academia would hardly have been the obvious choice.
However, not all students have the same safety net to stay on the outside of a picket line. International students are often required to meet attendance requirements set by the Home Office in order to maintain their visa status. This concern was raised at the picket line on Tuesday, when one student explained that the planned length of UCU industrial action was only just short enough for her degree to still be recognised by the Chinese government. Every individual situation is different, and while it is impossible to generalise the experience and consequences of industrial action, those in a position to offer solidarity have a duty to protect the education of students who are left with no good options.
This is not about being ‘anti-establishment’, but about protecting the establishment that enables the flourishing of arts, sciences and critical thought. The University of Edinburgh should be defined by its commitment to academic engagement and the quality of learning, rather than by an extractive financial approach that risks eroding the institution from the top down.
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Come to the picket line, speak to those taking part and learn something new. Industrial action cannot achieve change without solidarity from students. Do your part!
Image by Jenny Krasic for The Student
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