Thread by @HAYLESBEN

UUK say ppl want precarious contracts in HE. Really? After my phd I spent 7 yrs on fixed term research contracts. “Luckily” projects arose that I was qualified for so I had 6 renewals, 6 redundancy experiences. How do you mentally & financially manage this situation? #UCUstrike

1. Save save save. The individual absorbs the social risk of redundancy. Uni pay the bare minimum redundancy (after 2 yrs) . Save as much as possible, live in cheap housing, rely on partner’s wage. (Obvs inequalities issues galore, esp as #firstgen & #workingclassacademic)

2. You can try to write & win new grants yourself at weekends & find a permanent academic colleague to front them. Depending where you are there’s no guarantee you’d get the fixed-term job if your grant succeeds. Uni also cap the salary grade regardless of responsibility

3. Know your redundancy rights. Know them and exercise them. There are policy documents & protocols written down. But often these aren’t followed. Read them, ask questions, log everything, trust no one. Be prepared to be unliked (really hard for precarious staff)

4. Meticulously time pregnancy (easier said than done) to ensure you qualify for mat pay/aren’t made redundant on leave. This happens a lot, despite supposed protections & is super stressful if you experience miscarriages etc, as the eligibility windows are tight! HR don’t care

5. Similarly time life events such as house purchases to as close to the start of your contract as possible.Even then, many mortgage providers won’t lend to you. You need to decide if the costs of buying (often better & cheaper than rent) are too risky if you have to move cities

6. We’re told to be hyper competitive. You’re in the eye of the “neoliberal university” storm. Be more competitive, raise your “employability”, a few more years saying yes to every (unpaid) “opportunity”. These power dynamics regularly lead to tricky situations & burn-out

7. You’ll always think it’s about you, people might tell you it’s about you. But it’s not. It’s crap structures & poorly managed work planning, & finance/SMT teams hugely detached from university work. It’s decades of institutional inequalities & preferences for certain people

8. Tell colleagues about your reality, tell admin/professional service colleagues who might not understand. You no longer have a right to privacy. Some will see your stress as weakness & use it to justify their choice to give a job to someone else. Find allies instead.

9. Yes all this labour takes time, skills, mental loads, financial risks, sometimes physical harm from stress & long work hours. On top of your full time job, writing at weekends, so many job applications etc. But hey ho, UUK say we all want this so what do I know 🤷🏻‍♀️