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From The Socialist newspaper, 17 July 2013
Victory for teachers at UEL
The state has been withdrawing funds from higher education for over three decades. The cuts began in the 1980s with the new era of marketisation.
One of the consequences of this has been a change in the structure of academic employment with increased casualisation of teaching.
Universities have discovered that PhD students are cheap, highly motivated and disposable labour. But they are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.
But PhD students at the University of East London (UEL) have fought off attempts to make them teach on low wages or even for free.
This particularly affected international students who receive a bursary to cover only the cost of their fees.
They are tied into a contractual agreement with the university in which they undertake this exploitative labour.
But a joint campaign was launched which won a major victory. Now all schools will be encouraged to employ postgraduate students.
They must contract postgraduates as hourly paid lecturers, paying them for marking and preparation. Schools will also have to advertise such vacancies to their postgraduate students and postgraduates will undergo teacher training. Students on scholarships/studentships who are asked to teach will be paid.
But it's important that postgraduates who teach do not become complacent. It wasn't until 2000 that postgraduates employed by British universities became eligible for full membership of the University and College Union (UCU). So the fight for decent pay and working conditions must go on.
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Finance appeal
The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.
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In The Socialist 17 July 2013:
Socialist Party news and analysis
'We've had enough' - All strike together!
Urgent - trade unions must build a political voice for the working class
Fire cuts, pay cuts, pension cuts, job cuts
MPs' pay to rise to £74,000...
G4S tagging scandal: another failure of privatisation
International socialist news and analysis
USA: Zimmerman, Trayvon and racism
'Black July' - Sri Lanka 1983 and the beginning of civil war
Socialist Party feature
Socialist Party review
The story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs
Socialist Party workplace news
Lecturers in Wales expose working conditions
Fight Royal Mail privatisation!
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Bedroom tax non-payment soars in Scotland: Stop evictions
Councils: Don't do the Con-Dems' dirty work!
'Sick Of Your Boss?' week of action reports
Durham Miners' Gala shows mood for new party
Campaigning against anti-LGBT bullying in schools
Lincolnshire - save our libraries
Readers' comments
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