"This new world of work stands in contrast to the jobs of UK university staff. When I started my job nine years ago, only a few of my colleagues were in our trade union, because most saw little need for it. It is hard to imagine our jobs being offshored due to a planetary labour market (not yet, at least, although attempts are underway). Most of us felt that we were on good terms with our employer, and that we were able to periodically negotiate for better working conditions. The situation was not unlike that of many other white collar jobs, where workers ask themselves what use a trade union could serve.

But, in the higher education sector, the severe cuts to our pensions, the increased corporatisation, and high levels of precarity for junior academics have changed all of that."