Why We Should Support the UCU Strike

Dear St Andrews, show your support.

For the other side of the story, read Jasmine Humphrey’s description of the dangers of the strike


It’s often hard to properly empathise with the position of the strikers when you have been personally inconvenienced by their actions. I still remember the anger with which my friend and I greeted the news that, due to industrial action on the part of French railway workers, we would arrive at our destination in Germany several days late. Many of us studying here at St Andrews — especially those of us who must pay for our education — will justifiably be upset that our lectures and tutorials will be cancelled, our essays and assignments left ungraded, and our lecturers and tutors unresponsive.

It’s also easy to criticise those planning to take action because of the nature of their profession. We tend not to think of academics in the same vein as we do miners or railway workers; when the latter strike, the worst that happens is large inanimate machines go untended. Academics, however, are thought to be performing a public service for the community as a whole, educating the next generation of citizens so that society can prosper; it seems almost grubby for that noble endeavour to be disrupted by something so vulgar and mundane as a dispute over pensions.
Photo: UCU Edinburgh
But, for better or worse, the modern university is, at heart, a business like any other. There are employers (the university itself), employees (the lecturers and other staff), and customers (students like you and me). And just like any other business, when the employees are so blatantly and callously injured – in this case, lecturers found out overnight that half of their pensions had effectively been wiped out by Universities UK – and there is little to be achieved by individual acts of defiance, there seems little alternative but to take action as a collective group.

Some of the more right-leaning students here at St Andrews will no doubt be put off by the prospect of supporting a labour union in words or in deed, and even more so by taking the same side as the Socialist Society. But if you believe in the free market and in the right of every person to decide the price at which they are willing to sell their labour, surely you see that the lecturers would only be acting in their own rational self-interest – independent of any ideological convictions or  the idea of someone “deserving” a certain pay – by striking. In the face of the loss of over two hundred thousand pounds total per lecturer, and with the other side of the negotiating table being left empty, it would be borderline insanity for them not to take drastic measures.

Photo: Geograph
 Many students will also be irritated or outraged by the fact that many lecturers will not be notifying us if they decide to go on strike. Some of us will turn up to lectures and tutorials only to find that there is nobody teaching them. But it stands to reason that a strike, or any sort of industrial action, is only effective if it achieves its goal of causing a disruption. If teachers notified students or the University ahead of time, there would be ample opportunity for their employers to replace or substitute them, severely undermining the effectiveness of the strike.

We as students (and therefore as consumers and customers of the University) should also act in our own rational self-interest. We have rights, too, and we should demand them loudly and with conviction: if we lose valuable term-time to the negligence of organisations which refuse to come to the negotiating table, we deserve some sort of compensation from the University.

In the meanwhile the University and College Union, which is organising the strike, recommends students support their lecturers by not showing up to classes on the days when industrial action is planned.

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5 thoughts on “Why We Should Support the UCU Strike

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    信用版娛樂城是什麼?

    信用版娛樂城是一種線上賭博平台,其中的賭博活動不是直接以現金進行交易,而是基於信用系統。在這種模式下,玩家在進行賭博時使用虛擬的信用點數或籌碼,這些點數或籌碼代表了一定的貨幣價值,但實際的金錢交易會在賭博活動結束後進行結算。

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    娛樂城會被抓嗎?

    在台灣,根據刑法第266條,不論是實體或線上賭博,參與賭博的行為可處最高5萬元罰金。而根據刑法第268條,為賭博提供場所並意圖營利的行為,可能面臨3年以下有期徒刑及最高9萬元罰金。一般賭客若被抓到,通常被視為輕微罪行,原則上不會被判處監禁。

    信用版娛樂城是什麼?

    信用版娛樂城是一種線上賭博平台,其中的賭博活動不是直接以現金進行交易,而是基於信用系統。在這種模式下,玩家在進行賭博時使用虛擬的信用點數或籌碼,這些點數或籌碼代表了一定的貨幣價值,但實際的金錢交易會在賭博活動結束後進行結算。

    現金版娛樂城是什麼?

    現金版娛樂城是一種線上博弈平台,其中玩家使用實際的金錢進行賭博活動。玩家需要先存入真實貨幣,這些資金轉化為平台上的遊戲籌碼或信用,用於參與各種賭場遊戲。當玩家贏得賭局時,他們可以將這些籌碼或信用兌換回現金。

    娛樂城體驗金是什麼?

    娛樂城體驗金是娛樂場所為新客戶提供的一種免費遊玩資金,允許玩家在不需要自己投入任何資金的情況下,可以進行各類遊戲的娛樂城試玩。這種體驗金的數額一般介於100元到1,000元之間,且對於如何使用這些體驗金以達到提款條件,各家娛樂城設有不同的規則。

  5. Player線上娛樂城遊戲指南與評測

    台灣最佳線上娛樂城遊戲的終極指南!我們提供專業評測,分析熱門老虎機、百家樂、棋牌及其他賭博遊戲。從遊戲規則、策略到選擇最佳娛樂城,我們全方位覆蓋,協助您更安全的遊玩。

    Player如何評測:公正與專業的評分標準
    在【Player娛樂城遊戲評測網】我們致力於為玩家提供最公正、最專業的娛樂城評測。我們的評測過程涵蓋多個關鍵領域,旨在確保玩家獲得可靠且全面的信息。以下是我們評測娛樂城的主要步驟:

    娛樂城是什麼?

    娛樂城是什麼?娛樂城是台灣對於線上賭場的特別稱呼,線上賭場分為幾種:現金版、信用版、手機娛樂城(娛樂城APP),一般來說,台灣人在稱娛樂城時,是指現金版線上賭場。

    線上賭場在別的國家也有別的名稱,美國 – Casino, Gambling、中國 – 线上赌场,娱乐城、日本 – オンラインカジノ、越南 – Nhà cái。

    娛樂城會被抓嗎?

    在台灣,根據刑法第266條,不論是實體或線上賭博,參與賭博的行為可處最高5萬元罰金。而根據刑法第268條,為賭博提供場所並意圖營利的行為,可能面臨3年以下有期徒刑及最高9萬元罰金。一般賭客若被抓到,通常被視為輕微罪行,原則上不會被判處監禁。

    信用版娛樂城是什麼?

    信用版娛樂城是一種線上賭博平台,其中的賭博活動不是直接以現金進行交易,而是基於信用系統。在這種模式下,玩家在進行賭博時使用虛擬的信用點數或籌碼,這些點數或籌碼代表了一定的貨幣價值,但實際的金錢交易會在賭博活動結束後進行結算。

    現金版娛樂城是什麼?

    現金版娛樂城是一種線上博弈平台,其中玩家使用實際的金錢進行賭博活動。玩家需要先存入真實貨幣,這些資金轉化為平台上的遊戲籌碼或信用,用於參與各種賭場遊戲。當玩家贏得賭局時,他們可以將這些籌碼或信用兌換回現金。

    娛樂城體驗金是什麼?

    娛樂城體驗金是娛樂場所為新客戶提供的一種免費遊玩資金,允許玩家在不需要自己投入任何資金的情況下,可以進行各類遊戲的娛樂城試玩。這種體驗金的數額一般介於100元到1,000元之間,且對於如何使用這些體驗金以達到提款條件,各家娛樂城設有不同的規則。

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