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Students are increasingly spending time talking to strikers, offering support, wearing stickers and asking what they can do to help.

Yesterday was the Postgraduate Teaching Assistants (PGTA) strike theme and day of action. PGTAs visited different picket lines to share their experiences of stressful and precarious employment and low pay. After the strike meeting, the teach-out at 1pm was packed out with PGTAs and strikers.

PGTAs have many complaints, but it is clear thatÌýUCL's policies are not being implemented:

• UCL's policy is to pay postgraduates according to Equal Pay for Equal Value - but several said they were doing work at Grade 6 when they were paid at Grade 5.
• UCL's policy is to put staff on contracts of employment when their work forms a regular pattern. Most PGTAs are offered 'as and when' worker contracts that explicitly deny their employment rights. (This is also contrary to undertakings made byÌýUCLÌýHR to UCU.)
• TheÌýUCLÌýPGTA Code of Practice has not been implemented (it was published after contracts were issued in September) but some managers have quoted parts of it to limit the rights of PGTAs to accept work when they complained.
• The Code of Practice says PGTAs will be paid for every hour of work that they are required to do - but PGTAs disputed this as a matter of fact.
• UCLÌýhas said that no PGTA will be employed via Unitemps. Some PGTAs are paid via Unitemps.

PGTAs raised other problems - from the lack of transparency to the invidious problem of having to dispute their contracts with colleagues in their department or their supervisor. The PGTA campaign will continue!

Pickets continued until 12 and closed with a mobilisation outside the £64m Student Centre. A short impromptu rally inside was warmly welcomed by students.

Day 7 activities - today, Thu 5 March:

• Picketing from 8 to 12, with a planned gathering at 12 noon.
• From 8:30am on the Gower Street entrance we will be joined by delegates to the TUC Women's Conference.
• At 12 noon we will be joined by the Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell MP for our daily end-of-picketing photo. This will take place on the picket line outside theÌý.
• Our strike committee meeting will take place from 12.15 to 1.15 in theÌý
• Today's theme: international solidarity day - especially with colleagues in France (see below)
• Teach-out:ÌýConfronting the Climate Emergency atÌýUCLÌý(see below)

Teach-out:

Come to Meeting Room 1 at theÌýÌýat 1pm to discuss 'Confronting the Climate Emergency atÌýUCL':

• Prof. Susan Michie - Health and Psychology & Director of the Centre for Behaviour Change
• Dr. Chris Brierley - Climate Change, Geography
• Prof. Jane Rendel - Critical Spatial Practice, Bartlett School of Architecture
• Ciaran Jeb - SustainableÌýUCL
• James Price - Documentary and Ethnographic Film,ÌýUCLÌýUCU Environmental Officer

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Further details of planned central and departmental Teach-Outs on theÌýUCLÌýUCU website.

Strike theme:

We encourage pickets to create banners and posters with the word 'Solidarity' in different languages. We have also received a message of support from university workers at the Sorbonne in Paris, France:

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