The best and most sarcastic signs of the UCU strikes in Cardiff

We’ll just leave these here for you to enjoy

4 years ago

Who doesn’t love a good sign to wave about during a rally? The strikers and those supporting the strikes didn’t disappoint with their funny and totally sarcastic signs during this month’s strike action, and here are some of the best ones that we found.

U OK Hun?

Senior Lecturer of Biosciences, Rob Thomas, has totally @’ed Vice-Chancellor Colin Riordan in his signs. He’s constantly mocking his absence from the picket lines and supposed lack of communication with his staff. He definitely didn’t hide his feelings and his signs are comedy gold.

He told The Cardiff Tab that the VC thinks “we’re all striking because of the pay, but I’m striking for the workload.” And he went on to say how a colleague committed suicide as a result of being overworked and by striking hopes “that doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

His sign game is strong and people are loving it.

The Marxist Society turned up to fly their banner

You can’t have a strike without the Marxist Society turning up, right? Well, they did and they even brought their banner to make themselves visible.

The Marxist Society told The Cardiff Tab that “universities have become businesses which commodify education, which profits off pension cuts and student debt. For instance, the Vice-Chancellor’s benefits packages have increased by 227%”. They summarised that “overall, pension cuts, casualisation of the workforce, the marketisation of education, pay gaps and staff mental health are some of the main reasons why we are protesting and picketing.”

Something very punny happened

A good pun is always a great way to get the message across and have a little fun with a bad situation.

This student let her creativity out with this masterpiece explaining “it’s meant to be ‘strike’ like a match”. With that kind of metaphor, we can only assume she’s ENCAP.

Darth Vader and a dinosaur go to a strike rally…

Have you ever been to a Cardiff strike rally if you haven’t seen these iconic Physics and Astronomy lecturers dressed up as Darth Vader and a dinosaur?

When asked why they are striking they said: “I’m trying to support junior lecturers facing much worse pay and conditions than when I was hired twelve years ago.”

They also emphasised how for them “the workload is getting out of control. All the staff are under an enormous burden … and as a professional it’s annoying.”

The Force is definitely with these two strikers, 10/10 for effort and comedic value.

Where’s Colin?

We’re back with the search for VC Colin and no one seems to be able to find him at the strike rally. The hashtag #wherescolin started trending back in the 2018 strikes and has been used ever since.

A School of Medicine researcher told The Cardiff Tab: “I’ve been on casual contracts since I’ve finished my PhD and I know a lot of people are in the same position, it’s incredibly stressful. I find it also drives a lot of women out of science because they are concerned about things such as maternity leave.”

The undergraduate Psychology student also said “I work in the same department as those who are affected by this so that’s basically why I’m doing this, to support them. How they’re being treated is a disgrace.”

All the signs are starting to turn the strikes into a Where’s Wally game, and we are here for it.

BONUS: Corporate University instead of Cardiff University is genius

Sometimes it’s the little details that count. Although this isn’t a technically a sign, it’s just too good not to share. This is one of the flyers that the Cardiff Students Support the Strike group gave to the VC Colin himself, pretty nervy if you ask me but absolute genius.

They changed the Cardiff uni logo to ‘Corporate University’ and added ‘VC Licensing’ to have just another jab at VC Colin, I guess one more won’t hurt.

Let’s face it, your Friday just got a little funnier by strolling through these signs and you are all welcome.