Dear students,
You will be happy to hear that QMUL management and our local branch of the union (QMUCU) have reached an agreement. 97% of the members of the union, including myself, have voted in favour of it. This means that strike action next week and the week after has been called off, and we will proceed with our plans for weeks 11 and 12 of the term.
This is an agreement about the local issue of 100% deductions for ASOS (that is, for not "making up" education lost to nationally-mandated strike). After how hard we have fought against this injustice, and how much support we've received from you, our students, from other branches of the union, and from the local community, QMUL management have finally agreed not to deduct us for ASOS during the current dispute. They will no longer be using the snitch form to find out who has been on strike and whether they've "made up" education or not.
In addition to feeling so relieved that we can go back to the classroom as normal, I can't tell you how happy I am that we have won this victory. I have been snitched on twice (for another class) and I can tell you that these things hurt people, and they make the workplace a very unpleasant place to be. If we let them, they have the power to divide us, and to corrupt the teacher-student relationship. These are things we must always resist. We must always remember why we are where we are and what our goals are, and we must always stick to our principles.
There's still many challenges ahead, as the national dispute (on pensions, pay and working conditions) is not yet resolved. But now we know that these battles can be won. Power to the people!
Hope to see you all on Monday,
Luisa.
