Campus has been closed by heavy snow for two days this week. (I have plenty of food and heating and water – so I’m fine so far.) Too snowy and icy to climb up the hill, but not too snowy for some photos early this morning! These were taken around 7.30 when, as you can see, there were very few people around.
These two snow days came at the end of a week of strikes, and (possibly, depending on the progress of the strikes) they have cancelled the only day of teaching I will have in over three weeks. Officially, we have been striking for our pensions, but for many people this protest has become about many other things too – past cuts to pensions (each one promised to be the last), real-term pay cuts, increased casualisation and precarity. Others have written about the strikes much more eloquently than I could – here are a couple of pieces that resonated with me on the personal affect of industrial action, and a helpful video on the faulty assumptions behind the UUK position. Exeter UCU has some great photos of our cheerful (Classics-themed) picket line. There are positive signs after this first week of action, and we’re hoping for a speedy resolution. Solidarity to all my university colleagues, whatever the weather.
Katherine McDonald 
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