Thread by @fdelond

Incurred an embarrassingly-middle-class tennis injury yesterday which means standing/walking for hours is not an option today and so I will miss out, again, on standing on the picket line with my colleagues this morning as part of #UCUstrike #UCUstrikesback

It might seem strange to be sad about missing out on standing in the cold for four hours, but picket lines are energising and empowering places. First of all we are together, and being together and caring about each other is, fundamentally, what this action is about.

I know I have a I fantastic job & v generous terms and conditions, but I know that my working life is partly built on and partly produces precarity for others esp. 'buy ins' to cover my buyouts. The least I can do is show up & support the claim that it doesn't have to be this way

Secondly we get to speak to students, most of whom see that our working conditions are their learning conditions & are appalled when they hear about pay gaps, casualisation etc. Lots feel torn about being angry about missed classes. Talking together helps us work through this out

As @maireadenright said in a compelling thread yesterday, "those classes [you're missing] should be better. We can’t give you our best under these conditions". We are striking for your education & the picket line helps us see that together

Finally, on the picket line we can look colleagues who walk past us in the eye. Many look away. Some speed up (sometimes dangerously) as they drive past. 'The crossing' is a moment of awkwardness, disappointment, maybe anger (on both sides). It's supposed to be.

So, to my amazing @bhamlaw colleagues on the picket line, & our champion students who join us every day, thank you. Thank you for embodying the claims that underpin the strike, for absorbing the emotional labour of being on the picket line, for fighting for me and for all of us.