Staff and students picket on first day of Warwick strikes

Staff and students established a picket line at the University of Warwick’s bus interchange on the first day of UCU’s planned strikes. From 8 am to noon, they held up placards and banners in support of the strikes which were aimed at incoming traffic and those entering the university campus from elsewhere.

As part of the picketing, there was also a wide range of events throughout the morning.

At 9 am, Warwick Labour conducted a “teach out” where members of the society’s executive shared their personal experiences regarding the cost-of-living crisis, alongside their views on what they perceived as the inequitable and exploitative treatment that students and staff experience within the British higher education system.

At 10 am, Dr Jonathan Skinner – a Reader in English and Comparative Literary Studies at Warwick – conducted a poetry reading where he and an undergraduate student read out poetry relating to the strikes and the cost-of-living-crisis. Attendees to the picket line also wrote poetry in a number of poetic forms about strike-related themes.

At 11 am, Warwick PhD student Bronwen Mehta read excerpts from You Have Not Yet Been Defeated: a collection of writings by Egyptian political prisoner Alaa Abd el-Fattah which discusses topics ranging from theories on history to the 2011 Egyptian Revolution.

Moreover, there was a “Pedal for Pensions” event, where some members of staff and striking students cycled within the University of Warwick campus.

Warwick Labour told The Boar: “Warwick Labour offers full support to all striking staff. We will continue to stand with them and UCU members in solidarity on the picket line to support them in their fight for fair pay, protected pensions and better working conditions and contracts.”