Thread by @OddLittleOrange

It’s not that I want to #RejectUUKDeal. It’s that I can’t do anything else.
(A Thread)

To me, a Yes vote means saying "I am OK with entrusting my financial future to UUK on little more than some vague promises to look into things, consider my wishes, and come up with something ‘broadly comparable’ to the previous scheme."

UUK, incidentally, being an organisation perfectly willing to lie about the contributions made to my pension fund (among other things).

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by @jamesrmcd view original on Twitter

To me, a Yes vote means accepting that it’s necessary and fair to slash our pensions so that our employers might be better able to compete in an education marketplace – we only get to quibble over exactly how big the cuts should be.

To me – a Yes vote is capitulation. Nothing more.

To me, a Yes vote is horribly tempting. What if this really is the best we can do? What if we fight on for nothing? What about the effects of further strike action on ourselves, our students, our working environment?

But even if our employers are sure to get their victory, it matters whether they get an easy one or a pyrrhic one. I don’t want them thinking it’ll be a doddle to strip away the next bit of our dignity. I want them afraid to take us on again.

I will not be held hostage. If our employers don’t want the students to suffer, they can stop underpaying their staff. If they don’t want tension, they can stop reneging on contracts. It’s not up to us to suck up attack after attack in silence because it’s disruptive to resist.

If you think I’m ‘being emotional’, you’re damn right. I am furious. Aren’t you?

Anger is a legitimate response to having your pay slashed by your employer after you sign your contract. Anger is a legitimate response to the marketization of education. Anger is a legitimate response to being lied to by people in positions of power.

But let’s be clear: I am not going to #RejectUUKDeal because I’m angry. I'll do it because I believe that cutting our pensions is profoundly unjust and that the ‘deal’ contains nothing to suggest that this injustice will be stopped. These things also just happen to make me angry.

(By the way, if you think that someone – anyone - else is ‘emotional’ while you are ‘factual’, you are lying to yourself. Do NOT @ me about this.)

To me – the decision to #RejectUUKDeal is easy to make, even if it’s hard to come to terms with. I don’t like to fight. I'll even admit to being a little scared. But a fight has been brought to me and it’s not over yet. So, for me, the decision is simple. No.
(End Of Thread)