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)

Thread: Lots of the reasons for striking focus on students & teaching. This is important. But there are university workers doing lots of other important work, including research. 68% of researchers are on fixed-term contracts, many for 1 or 2 years & it's hard-going... #UCUstrike 1. You do the research job that is in the job outline, but on top of that you MUST also do a number of things to get a new job. Just doing the job listed in the description (even if you're a legend at it) does not get you a renewal or a new contract/project at the end #UCUstrikes