I am currently UCU University of Bristol Anti-Casualisation Officer and among other things help to chair the Bristol Anti-Precarity Network (BAPN) and sit on the University’s Precarious Contract Working Group (PCWG). I am UCU South West Regional Committee Anti-Casualisation Officer and have been member and co-chair of UCU’s national Anti-Casualisation Committee (ACC) 2022-2024. 

Casualised, precarious contracts may be heralded by some as flexible and empowering; the reality is that for the vast majority casualised working is a nightmare.

Such precarity makes it so much harder to feel valued, not exploited, and properly rewarded at work, and ultimately to feel an integral part of an institution.

Casualised, precarious working makes it very difficult if not impossible to plan for the future, to rent or buy a property, to apply for credit, to raise a family, or to live healthily.

It makes it harder to take days off if sick.

It makes it hard to concentrate on doing a good job when trying to juggle different contracts, employers, and workplaces, hunting out new opportunities, write letters, and buff up CVs, and to work without the constant worry of what to do if/when a contract isn’t renewed.

It would also be nice to have a bit of a social life every now and then. 

Please follow BAPN and @UCUAnti_Cas on Twitter/X. And say no to sessional, hourly-paid, temporary, fixed-term employment contracts and yes to secure, permanent, rewarding and respectful working terms and conditions.