On the one hand, I completely agree that 30% cuts (I think that's right) to their pensions is ridiculously unfair and they have every right to complain about it, and I honestly hope that they do manage to sort this out.
However, on the other hand, I think it's really inconvenient for students to have their lectures/seminars postponed (or cancelled completely in some cases, I'll bet), when they have limited contact time in the first place, for a strike that in all honesty probably won't do much, if anything, for the cause. Not that strikes never work, because obviously they have done in the past, but in the unfortunate economic climate we're currently living in I just don't think now is the time.
At the moment, there's a Facebook group going around that a lot of people have joined telling everyone to boycott petrol stations on the 6th April (or somewhere around that date) in protest of the extortionate petrol prices (bear with me, I promise I'm going somewhere with this). The idea behind this is that the petrol companies will lose so much money on this day that they'll just have to lower the prices. Of course, the mastermind behind this idea has failed to realise that even if by some miracle, every single driver in the country went along with this and didn't re-fuel on the day, the money the petrol companies would make in the days before and after the 6th in the preparation and aftermath of the boycott would more than make up for any losses incurred. One day wouldn't even be a drop in the ocean for them.
Although I've just gone off on a massive tangent, this is how I feel about the lecturers strike. The few hours they're going to be striking for won't really make a difference, I don't think. Whoever instigated these cuts will be well aware that people affected are going to be unhappy about them, because why wouldn't they? Of course people aren't going to take a 30% cut quietly. What I'm trying to say is that when cuts are made, strikes are probably expected by those who caused them, and so it will be no easy feat to turn the situation around. I hope that a continuous strike doesn't start, with lectures and seminars and the marking of essays stopping indefinitely, because it just seems like a massive slap in the face to the students who are paying to be at university.
Wow, it looks like I do have an opinion on the strike.
I don't want this to sound like I'm not sympathetic to the cause, because I really am, and if I was in their position I'd probably be doing the same thing. I just think that at the moment, in a time where unemployment is high, and cuts are being made left, right and centre, maybe people should just be thankful they actually have jobs and save striking for a better time, or at least continue negotiating non-disruptively. I don't know, it's a tricky subject because there's a lot of lecturers who truly deserve a lot more money than they're actually earning because they go above and beyond to help their students. But a lot of lecturers are...I don't know, I suppose lazy is perhaps the best word for it.
I know this hasn't been a particularly jolly post, but I've been a bit forlorn today because we watched a couple of episodes of Boys from the Blackstuff in my seminar this morning, and it's just so depressing. If you haven't seen any, I'd recommend watching them, but just be aware that it's not exactly a barrel of laughs.
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Today I'm loving: That my ear popped all on its own, saving me a trip to the doctors.
Today I'm hatin': Nothing at the moment, I have it pretty good right now.
Song of the Day: The Wish by Josh Canova
I'm fine/I'll do it myself like I've done it before/And I won't need anyone's help, I mean anyone's help/But I might not learn how to fix this/Or even change it
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