Today was day 11 in week 4 of the longest academic strike ever. We began in February and we now approach the middle of March. Today was the morning after the night before. Yesterday evening the proposed UUK/UCU agreement was released and it showed a basis for agreement – and the end of the strike – that was far from what most expected. The devil is in the detail. The principle of defined benefits is lost somewhere in the opaque announcement and the effort put in by pickets undervalued.
With this on the table, and Twitter facing a meltdown from UCU members, so began today’s Pickets Playlist.
- The mood from most people involved in the dispute, certainly those academics and professional service staff on strike, was that something has to change in higher education. We began then with a simple message from Bob Dylan and ‘The Times They Are A Changin’.
- Then today we heard from the man responsible for managing the UK economy, responsible for continuing austerity, that we’re all in better shape. The so-called light at the end of the tunnel. Deficit reduction? Amy Winehouse and the great tune ‘Back to Black’.
- What a performance and we stayed with the power of the voice – a metaphor for the pickets – with Siouxsie and the Banshees and ‘Kiss Them For Me’. We are in danger of kissing our pensions goodbye.
- Every day it is important to show solidarity with the pickets. If you haven’t done so yet, go talk with them and take them a cup of tea. Ask them what they think about the ‘agreement’. Here is the superb Tracy Chapman and her ‘Fast Car’.
- We changed direction in response to the articulate voices from Glasgow UCU members heard earlier on BBC radio. For them we played the Sensational Alex Harvey Band from Scotland and a kind of anarchy glam from back in the 70s: ‘Delilah’.
- When was the last time you went to the Big Capital? Well, next time you go to London, say you’re doing work and go first class. Then nip down to ‘Baker Street’ but watch those expenses don’t get out of hand. This is Gerry Rafferty.
- Playing The Clash and ‘Spanish Bombs’ needs nothing added. What a tune!
- And now this great old Scottish folk song of resistance, Roaring Jack, Alistair Hulett and ‘The Old Divide and Rule’. Watch this play out over the next few days.
- As we wind the music down here is the legendary tone of Paul Robeson and the famous ballad of ‘Joe Hill’. Great vocals.
- We finished this morning with Joan Baez and her version of ‘Bread and Roses’.
As the day moved on more and more pickets were reminding UCU that the tag line #NoCapitulation means exactly that. Victory to the UCU pickets and their fight against the unjust decision of UUK to dismantle pension provision and security in retirement.
UCU UoL Management School 