I’ve just returned from the picket at King’s College London where we had a very respectable turnout of ten striking staff.
The next step in our strike schedule after the two-day national strike was for branches to select one day of action in June/July. I voted in favour of co-ordinating with the NUT action on 5 July, but for various reasons my branch opted for today.
The turnout on the picket line was good but it’s unfortunate that this strike action is not taking place at a time of the year when it would have more impact. Most students are away from university at the moment so we are very much on our own in terms of support. Keeping up the morale of staff is important, and to do that we need to have more visible strike action that makes more of a impact.
Personally I think that the way forward is term time strike action, coordinated with other unions. I’ll be arguing for this at a local and regional level, as I’m sure will many other activists around the country. Onwards and upwards!
by Joe Attard, KCL UCU (personal capacity)
