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9 reasons why joining the union is a good idea for researchers...
03 March 2010
By Hannah Dee
I'll begin with those that are phrased from the point of view of pure self-interest - the way in which unions can help the individual:
1. Not every boss is nice. If you come up against a bad one - a bully, or a micro-manager, or simple incompetence - the union can provide you with representation which will help you deal with it. The ability to have someone who understands the institutional structure and processes and who is ON YOUR SIDE is invaluable.
2. Sometimes large organisations make mistakes. You might find that some clerical error has gone against you. (Overpaid? Underpaid? A colleague loses their temper with you? Inexplicable library fines? Porn in your home directory that you know nothing about?) Again, having someone on your side is invaluable.
3. Fixed term contracts are insecure, but not as insecure as you think - if you have had 4 year's continuous service with the same institution, you may be eligible for a "permanent" contract. The union can help you with this.
4. Sometimes everyone makes mistakes. (You lose your temper with a colleague? Explicable library fines? Porn in your home directory that you DO know something about?). Whilst it would be stupid to suggest that the union will represent and support you whatever you do, in many cases union intervention can mitigate the fall out from your own stupidity. That sounds harsh, and it's not really what unions are about, but it's true, and they can help.
5. Free legal advice.
Now I'll move on to ways in which having a strong trades union helps the institution. This involves you having to step outside of your own self-interest briefly and consider how contributing to a wider movement might be a good idea in the long run, but I expect you're up to the task:
6. Academic freedom: the UCU has been fighting as hard for academic freedom as any other body. If you're sponsored by (say) a pharmaceutical company, and you publish something that contradicts them, the UCU will support you. It is also arguing at the level of policy and strategy in a way that you as an individual can't.
7. Serious concern for health and safety. This might seem a strange one, but the health and safety movement goes hand in hand with the union movement. Time was, work was a dangerous place. Right now, in academia, the major health and safety risks to union members are through workplace stress. Guess who is taking this seriously? Yup, the union.
8. Pay negotiations: Whilst the pay settlements agreed by the unions are applicable to all, the negotiating power of the union is strengthened if the membership is large. This benefit is indirect, but substantial - I think that every year I was employed in a UK university, my pay deal was worth more than my union subs. If you're happy to sit back and let other people's involvement and effort drive your income, then fine.
And finally:
9. Union dues for most researchers are less than 15 pounds per month, and you can claim tax relief on them, so are in effect even lower.
Tennie Videler05 March 2010 at 11:20 AM
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Noticed an article in Science careers on a pretty similar topic (but an american take to tie in with the tomato toh-mah-toe theme..): http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2010_03_05/caredit.a1000023
Hannah Dee05 March 2010 at 11:33 AM
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Thanks for that Tennie - an interesting article. I think a lot of people don't realise that the bulk of union work is actually invisible - helping individual staff with individual problems. Strikes and other large actions make the headlines, but it's the assistance with bullying cases and so on that makes the difference.
Andy Humphrey05 March 2010 at 02:07 PM
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Thanks Hannah, this is a pretty good summary. As a researcher who is also a case worker for UCU, I can vouch for the fact that the union does a LOT of work behind the scenes. It might interest your readers to know that the majority of my case work covers just two issues: one is bullying, the other is termination of fixed-term contracts. Both issues which impact in a big way on the lifestyle of the academic researcher...
Matthew Salois08 March 2010 at 09:26 AM
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Thanks for this Hannah. Though I may need you to convince on one key issue -- dues. Do members of staff receive all the benefits of the union regardless of whether they pay dues or not? I believe for many the choice for not joining a union is economic. If one can reap all the benefits then why pay even the small fee of £15/month? Maybe there are some intangible benefits that I am not seeing. What a startling article Tennie!!! I followed the link in the article to a post-doc who murdered her PIs for denying tenure! Absolutely creepy and awful. Andy, maybe I am just naive, but what could you clarify what issues are involved in 'bullying'? Maybe I just have a fortunate working environment, but I am curious as to what are some of the common or more frequent issues you have had to deal with.
Hannah Dee08 March 2010 at 09:38 AM
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Matthew - as a non-union member, you benefit from work the union does in categories 6-8 in my list. If you find yourself in a bullying situation or similar you won't be supported as a non-member even if you join straight away; it's a bit like trying to buy insurance the day after you've been burgled. As for "What does bullying entail?" well it is a fairly broad category - post-docs have found themselves told to do experiments that they don't agree with; work has been published without their names on it; people get phoned at home late at night by the boss; people find themselves marginalised due to outside issues (childcare is a key one; but sick relatives are another); people find their work sabotaged (computers turned off mid-run etc.)... And then there's just common-or-garden bullying that you'd probably recognise from the school playground. I don't know if academic is more prone to this than other professions. Maybe it is, because it's full of clever people, some of whom can be arrogant, and many of whom are, how can i put it, lacking in the social skills department. Or maybe this is just what work is like.
Andy Humphrey06 April 2010 at 03:01 PM
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Thanks Hannah. I wouldn't want to post up details of ongoing or recent cases, in case anybody could identify the people involved from what I say about them. But you've provided a pretty good general summary. I'd also add things like: Pressure to work long hours (sometimes far exceeding contracted hours); Criticism for not working evenings or weekends; Denial of reasonable requests for annual leave; Micro-management (with the goal of intimidating the employee or taking away their confidence); Unreasonable pressure for "results" - in science, sometimes with the best will and all the effort in the world, you CAN'T get experiments to work, even with a deadline looming.
Blanka Sengerová08 October 2010 at 11:13 AM
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This week's Nature naturejobs has an interesting article on the unionization of the US postdocs: http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2010/101007/full/nj7316-739a.html (I think the access should be free for anyone as it's sponsored by a company).
(Sorry for posting this twice, but I really think this is the more appropriate thread to post it to).