Thousands of UK academics ’treated as second-class citizens’ - The Guardian, 20 janvier 2020

Report claims higher education institutions have created pool of low-paid staff for teaching and research

Thousands of academic staff at British universities are being treated as second-class citizens on precarious contracts, says a report highlighting the “alarming rise of mass casualised labour” in higher education.

The report by the University and College Union claims institutions have created a pool of low-paid staff to teach undergraduates, conduct research and work in libraries, despite having advanced postgraduate or other academic qualifications.

It calls on the Office for Students, the higher education regulator in England, to require each university to publish figures showing their use of casual teaching staff, and and for research councils to insist their grant-holders employ staff on improved contracts.

Chi Onwurah, the Labour MP for Newcastle Central, who is supporting the report, said it showed that precarious employment was not just an issue for “gig economy” workers. “Reliance on precarious, low-paid staff has become a business model and therefore universities across the UK are in the midst of industrial action over this issue,” Onwurah said.

One academic told the authors how she had been plunged into a six-month teaching contract without an interview or training, and told to simply read out notes the previous lecturer had left, leaving students unhappy.

Others reported supervisors unfairly demanding credit for research, despite having little involvement, and of being bullied or having to endure “abrasive and demeaning” managers. Staff on short-term contracts said they felt unable to defend themselves against the demands of managers or permanent colleagues.

Jo Grady, the UCU general secretary, said students would be shocked by the levels of dehumanisation of staff at universities where they were studying.

“We need to have an honest conversation about casualisation that draws out the real extent of the problem and how we can secure improvements for staff. The Office for Students should demand that universities disclose the extent of teaching – measured in classroom hours – that is being done by casualised staff,” Grady said.

The report explores data showing that 67,000 research staff were on fixed-term contracts, making up two-thirds of the total research staff employed at universities, alongside 30,000 contracted teaching staff, many paid by the hour. A further 69,000 academic staff were on “atypical contracts” and so are not counted in the main staff record, while an estimated 6,500 were on zero-hours contracts.

But a spokesperson for the Universities and Colleges Employers’ Association (UCEA) said its members had been reducing the number of zero-hours contracts and “atypical contracts”, while expanding the number of open-ended staff contracts.

“UCEA has over recent years worked with UCU and the other higher education trade unions to better understand employment across the HE sector,” he said.

“Our own analysis demonstrates both continued growth in the higher education workforce and that this growth is strongest in open-ended contracts, which increased by 21.9% whilst atypical contracts declined by 16.1% during the same period between 2011-12 and 2017-18.

“The employment arrangements within autonomous universities are of course for institutional-level discussions and not for UCEA. Universities always want to ensure their colleagues, whatever contract they are on, feel that they are appropriately rewarded and supported to give of their best for students.”

The findings come in the middle of long-running industrial action over pensions and pay between UCU’s members and university employers, with further strikes across British higher education on the cards later this year.

Pour lire le texte sur le site du Guardian

Traduction

"Des milliers de membres du personnel académique des universités britanniques sont traités comme des citoyens de seconde zone avec des contrats précaires, selon un rapport soulignant la "hausse alarmante de la main-d’œuvre occasionnelle de masse" dans l’enseignement supérieur.

Le rapport de la University and College Union affirme que les institutions ont créé un réservoir de personnels mal rémunérés qui enseignent aux étudiants de premier cycle, mènent des recherches et travaillent dans les bibliothèques, cela en dépit du fait qu’ils ont des qualifications universitaires de troisième cycle ou autres.

Il demande à l’Office for Students, l’organisme de réglementation de l’enseignement supérieur en Angleterre, d’exiger de chaque université qu’elle publie les chiffres de son personnel enseignant précaire, et aux conseils de recherche d’insister auprès de leurs titulaires pour qu’ils recourent à des contrats améliorés.

Chi Onwurah, la députée travailliste de Newcastle Central, qui soutient le rapport, a déclaré que celui-ci montrait que l’emploi précaire n’était pas seulement un problème pour les travailleurs de l’" économie du spectacle ". "Le recours à un personnel précaire et mal payé est devenu un modèle de recrutement si bien que les universités du Royaume-Uni sont en pleine action syndicale sur cette question ", a déclaré Mme Onwurah.

Une universitaire a raconté aux auteurs [du rapport] qu’elle avait été engagée dans un contrat d’enseignement de six mois sans entretien ni formation préalables, et qu’on lui avait dit de se contenter de lire à haute voix les notes que le précédent enseignant avait laissées, au détriment des étudiants.

D’autres ont rapporté que les superviseurs exigent injustement d’eux qu’ils cherchent des crédits pour la recherche, malgré leur faible implication, et qu’ils étaient intimidés ou devaient supporter des gestionnaires " abrasifs et humiliants ". Le personnel sous contrat à court terme dit se sentir incapable de se défendre contre les demandes des gestionnaires ou des collègues titulaires."