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Strikes 2020: Day 14… Friends not farewells

Published: 13th March, 2020

It was another bright and beautiful day on the Leicester pickets. Good information had been shared and discussed on day 13 about the spread COVID-19, and as a result, planned activities on the picket line were moved online or rescheduled and leafletting cancelled. Our picketing went ahead, and members were encouraged to stay home if they had any concerns and to join in online. 

Shining bright is the work of members in museum studies who are community curating a virtual strike museum. Contribute your strike item! #UCUStrikeMuseum

https://twitter.com/Museum_Jen/status/1238398224454447104?s=20

As the sun rose higher in the sky, an unexpectedly large number of members joined at the main picket. The day had seemed to call for a spooky Friday the 13th related theme, and certainly we are still fighting ‘university horrors’…

Our final day on the pickets was fuelled, as usual, by sweet treats. Today, a brilliant Physics student brought some stellar brownies packed with chocolate. 

And a lovely carrot cake was sliced expertly and with great ingenuity with a cable tie. Lack of utensils is no barrier to this branch fairly distributing sweet baked goods.

As this 14-day stretch of picket action drew to a close, we said a final goodbye to Picket Spoon. With purple trombone taps and a tear-jerking eulogy, our comrade was lovingly lowered into the noble picket brazier.

But the real theme of today’s strike activity turned out to be camaraderie. Standing together on entrance 1 or at the Victoria Park entrance, picketing members and a wonderful number of visiting dogs chatted with each other and kept up our strike spirits. Clearly, the relationships built and strengthened during this round of industrial action are what will keep us strong, united, and hopeful as we move forward in our fight for fair pay and working conditions.