With recent changes to the USS Pension Scheme, our employers have demonstrated that despite our hard work, long hours, and constant sacrifice, they have no interest in maintaining one of the most important rewards in our profession: the opportunity for a dignified retirement. They will be paying less into our pensions, our benefits will decrease substantially — and yet, our workloads will continue to increase, our stress levels will continue to rise, and the pressures upon us will continue to intensify.
If our employers have no interest in taking care of us, then perhaps it is time for us to take better care of ourselves and each other. Rather than giving them a free hour of extra labour by skipping lunch — on top of all the extra hours we work anyway — let’s reclaim our lunch hour. Let’s take some time every day to slow down, take a break, refuel our bodies and our minds, and socialise with our colleagues.
One of the benefits of university life used to be the collegial nature of the academic environment. A campus filled with bright, driven people can be an exciting and motivating place to work. We hope to regain that feeling of collegiality by recapturing the lunch hour.
With that in mind, Southampton UCU will shortly be launching our “Let’s Meet For Lunch” Campaign. We urge all of our members to take part and reclaim that crucial mid-day break to keep their minds and their bodies in good health and good spirits!
Flyers and further information will be coming soon — here on this blog, via email, and from our members around the campus!