Initiated by London Region UCU and several Students’ Unions, the PGWA is a grassroots network that seeks to work with NUS and UCU to secure fair employment conditions for research students employed in higher education.
We believe that students who work in higher education are professionals like any other, deserving of the respect, pay and conditions which should also be afforded to their non-student colleagues. We are not free or cheap labour to be exploited, or to be used to undercut our colleagues’ pay and conditions.
Postgraduate Workers in HE, like other workers, are entitled to:
– comprehensive written contracts
– fair pay for every hour worked
– holiday and sick pay
– stable and secure work and income
– free and adequate training opportunities and feedback to improve their abilities
– healthy, safe workplaces
– trade union representation
– equal, free access to the resources they need to perform their job
– fractionalised contracts where appropriate to the nature of the work
– no threats, or implicit threats, of academic repercussions for matters of employment
Research students, as early career researchers, are entitled to fair access to paid teaching opportunities to develop this aspect of their academic skills. Recruitment practices must be fair, transparent and open.
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