A rousing start to three days of strike action at Warwick, with a strong turnout, welcome support from students, picket line poetry, #bikesforstrikes, a talk on Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s message of resistance, casualisation stories and more. And hot drinks supplied with the necessary heat by our new generator. Let’s not forget that.
The picket line was enlivened by a ‘critical mass’-style cycle rally taking a relaxed tour of local thoroughfares.
Jonathan Skinner from English & Comparative Literary Studies led a poetry reading/workshop, taking its cue from Audre Lorde (“Poetry is not a luxury”). In one exercise, participants ‘mitigated’ the Vice Chancellor’s message of regret that industrial action was taking place by creatively erasing it, revealing the poetic potential in even the most prosaic admin comms.
Bronwen Mehta from Politics spoke about the necessity of struggle relayed by Alaa Abd el-Fattah, Egyptian political prisoner.
The traditional group photo to finish the morning saw us out in force, meeting up with friends and allies from across the university, and lucky so far with the weather.
See you all at the pickets tomorrow. El pueblo unido jamas sera vencido!