There should be something to do apart from filling questionnaires. Let us know. Time is ticking.
Reply to the survey by Uni Göttingen Unbefristet
61 colleagues filled out our survey on working conditions during the corona pandemic. We can see that they all try to make the best out of the situation and especially to do justice to their students when they teach. However, teaching remotely works better for some sometimes and worse for others at other times, as you would expect. Problems occur whenever presence is necessary: Labs can’t be used, exams might turn out chaotic and always carry the risk of infection. However, the shift in working conditions have two ultimate consequences. First, it remains unclear, whether contracts that end in the near future are to be extended or renewed as one colleague reports: “Because I can’t work in the lab, I have to delay the submission of my project and my boss won’t extend my contract.” Second, the double shift of working from home and childcare duties is a major source of stress: “Both my kids are at home, they’re both younger than 12. That should explain everything. It is impossible to work at a stretch for some time.” Homeschooling may add a third layer of work load for some colleagues. Other studies have shown that the distribitution of care work puts women who are in the PhD or Post-Doc periods of their careers at a disadvantage.
We want to discuss with you, how these results impact our campaign. What can we do to make the prolongation of work contracts mandatory and not “voluntary”? How can we make sure that childcare is more evenly distributed during a possible second infection wave and that those who need it will have access to it? And how does this struggle impact the overall goal of the campaign, to create permanent work contracts for all university employees? What can work council and trade unions do? Let’s come together, discuss and plan our way forward: Time’s running!
ONLINE DEBATE, 18 June, 10:00-11:30 am. Please send an e-mail to uni-goettingen-unbefristet@posteo.de to participate.
