Digital Picket Lines and withdrawing unpaid labour etc.

[chilango]

The current UCU strike has got me thinking about this.

I see a lot of talk of the digital Picket line - don't work from home obviously, but also stuff like not tweeting "work related" stuff, which in this dispute involving the withdrawal of intellectual labour is interesting...

...and then, for example, I "work" in the this field. But am not an employee and thus not officially on strike, but is continuing my own intellectual labour in the field a kind of scabbing?

It raises, for me at least, interesting questions about the nature and boundaries of work today.

Anyone got any thoughts?

 

[brogdale]

The current UCU strike has got me thinking about this.

I see a lot of talk of the digital Picket line - don't work from home obviously, but also stuff like not tweeting "work related" stuff, which in this dispute involving the withdrawal of intellectual labour is interesting...

...and then, for example, I "work" in the this field. But am not an employee and thus not officially on strike, but is continuing my own intellectual labour in the field a kind of scabbing?

It raises, for me at least, interesting questions about the nature and boundaries of work today.

Anyone got any thoughts?

Suspect that some of this chatter relates to 'higher profile' folk using the time 'freed-up' by the action to spend even more time working with their publishers etc?

Digital scabbing?

 

[chilango]

Suspect that some of this chatter relates to 'higher profile' folk using the time 'freed-up' by the action to spend even more time working with their publishers etc?

Digital scabbing?

Yep. There is some of that for sure.

 

[Proper Tidy]

It's interesting. Think the line has to be between the material and empty gestures.

A traditional picket line, one big physical industrial site, literal line of pickets, nobody crosses - symbolic of course but means empty site and material impact on employer.

This can apply to non-physical too obviously, so working from home when colleagues on strike has same material effect, if not symbolic effect, as physically crossing a picket line. So it's scabbing. Don't do it.

But where do you draw the line (pun intended) - eg reading one work email on your laptop or phone at 23.59 = scabbing, reading it at 00.01 = not scabbing - meaningless really.

Dunno, it's more complicated now isn't it, now people work remotely. Like I say, I think it has to be a judgement call about what makes a material difference > what has symbolic impact on confidence > what is just meaningless gestures

 

[redsquirrel]

What PT said. I'd love it it people didn't check their work emails at all but they are going to do so, what's more important is that they take action that puts the pressure on the employer - so not replying to emails, properly working to contact etc.

BTW chilango you are probably entitled to become a student member of UCU if you want - though you are obviously still limited in the action you can take.

 

[chilango]

What PT said. I'd love it it people didn't check their work emails at all but they are going to do so, what's more important is that they take action that puts the pressure on the employer - so not replying to emails, properly working to contact etc.

BTW chilango you are probably entitled to become a student member of UCU if you want - though you are obviously still limited in the action you can take.

Yeah, I am a student member of the UCU.

 

[redsquirrel]

To add to the complication is that many casual academics will also be PhD students.

 

[chilango]

Yep.

...or, like me, doing casual work at the University but not for the University.

Plus my research? Where does that fit?

What about unpaid lecturing/presenting?

 

[PursuedByBears]

A lot of striking academics continue to work on their research applications and expect support staff to be available as normal during the strike