I wish I could go on strike for us contingent faculty too!!!

(Part 1 of 2, part 2 here)
Thursday morning I had to wake up around 5 am for our ski trip and when NPR started playing in our (super old) alarm clock and I heard an interviewer asking someone about a strike at the University of Illinois in Chicago on support of contingent faculty I immediately perked up and sat up in bed and started listening.

It was a strange feeling, especially after only a few hours of sleep, so early in the morning, to be hearing this guy from the Chronicle of Higher Ed (Peter Schmidt) talking about MY LIFE on the radio. I mean, that's all I could think of as he patiently explained to the NPR host the plight of contingent faculty.

I can barely write this or even bear to re-read the transcript because the timing is so ridiculous -- hearing this one one morning and the next day finding out that my situation is more unstable that I thought it'd be. I just have tears streaming down my cheeks now as I write this post.

I mean... I have it better than most, seriously. I know I should be grateful for the half-jobs I have, but the most crushing thing of all is that for the past five, six, seven years (even before I became one of them back in 2010!) I've been reading about the plight of contingent faculty and how it's such a struggle for all of us and it's just been really hard.

Because while I struggle with my situation I feel the acute weight of "THE SYSTEM" over me and the other thousands in my situation. I could go on and on, but I need to go write another post to share what's bothering me in more detail.

In any case, I wish there was something I could do. I wish I could become a true militant in this nearly hopeless struggle, but there's not much I can do. One thing is certain: where I live and work it's even harder because there can't be unions. As I read about the strike in Illinois, I wish we lived elsewhere right now, but that can't be changed. Gotta dry the tears and try to deal with the situation at hand. It's all I can do.

(not that this particular strike in Chicago will do any good, academia is much too slow and much too messed up as regards to career and hiring and the tenure system for change to happen any time soon)

MAYBE, just maybe it's a start, though??  Here are some interesting headlines from around the web about this strike:
Truthout calls it a "Historic Strike" as does "In These Times" and Schmidt titled his piece for the Chronicle "U. of Illinois at Chicago Strike Showed Unusual Support for Contingent Faculty"

Part 2 to come in two hours :)