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Generally strong showing at the pickets, seems full of positivity. Incredibly strong student showing. Treasurer Darcy spoke on behalf of BTUC, we got some turnout from various Labour figures over the days (some councillors on Thurs, Tahir Ali showed up on Friday). All the various Marxist groupings you normally expect on a picket. Strong solidarity extended by Unison picketers from the UoB Unison branch, and there was a Unite banner there too. There is a picture of all the banners together which I’d want to grab but it hasn’t gone up anywhere yet – when it does I’ll stick it up there. Across the 4 picketlines there were a lot of people, and the rallies at the end of the picket had a great turnout.

The most impressive thing about the UCU turnout is who turned out to the picket – it was a lot of the younger members turning up to demonstrate against the increased tendency of casualisation and pay discrimination. A good sign for a branch future – shows that the branch will remain active and strong going forwards. There are still I believe a further 17-20 strike days planned for BUCU and nationally, but they will come after the Christmas break to ensure they happen when they will cause meaningful industrial disruption.