EU Trip – The EPILOGUE
Table of Contents
Promotion
Almost exactly a month after our survival of the EU Trip to hell – OK slight exaggeration
I got an internal email from the Principal, Nye – the bit that mattered, said:
‘We now have an unexpected vacancy for Head of Department of ‘Hotel & Catering’.
There is no suitable candidate within the department as there are very few senior lecturers, and no obvious candidates across the college.
I would be prepared to propose your application and arrange an interview Board. Take a few days to mull it over and then let me know your thoughts.
I believe that you could make a go of this Jim – it is a natural step forward for you and I would like you in the college management team.
Please give it serious consideration and get back to me.’
The reference to Senior Lecturers relates to the fact that the next promotion step for a Senior Lecturer, at the top of the gradings, as I was, is Head of Department – on a much higher pay scale, of course
My immediate thought was that I knew a bit about Hotel & Catering – but only as a customer!
I’m sure that Nye would have said – ‘you don’t need to know the subjects – that’s what the lecturers are for – you just manage them’.
New Job??
It was Friday – so I had the weekend to consider it and have a chat with my wife. I did ring her, so she could start thinking.
Jotted down my initial thoughts
Better salary BUT would have to give up my private work
Mostly admin BUT minimal class contact
More scope for delegation but I am not attracted
to disciplining people
More secure?? Less secure??
More control BUT overall hours
over hours longer
Prestige BUT Don’t give a toss!
I think, even at this stage, it was starting to look like maybe – a no brainer.
Waited to hear what my wife thought, without any prior comments from me.
She said – Basically, the same equation – put simply –
‘it’s a better paid job – but not a hell of a lot better if you have to give up the private work –
AND it takes you out of the lecture room, which is the bit you enjoy the most.’
She knows me better than I know myself..
It is a no- brainer, I have to politely refuse.
Rest of the weekend to draft a response and email him Monday morning in work.
Get a very nice response from Nye – no rancour – just regrets, but understands my decision – and even says, that he would probably have made the same choice at my age and, if I ever fancied a career change, to have a word with him first – a good man.
I have researched what might follow- an Epilogue.
There is a good argument, that the musical term ‘Coda’ – which is Latin for; tail’ -is appropriate – so –
Coda
Some three years later – I am approached by a colleague in the Business Studies Department, called Steve. for whom I had great respect. I actually shared a staff room with his wife, who taught Law.
He had a chequered history –ex. merchant navy – and a beard like Uncle Albert in Fools and Horses (Buster Merryfield).
Then into FE – specialised in the history of central Manchester – one of his job for the college was training newly licensed, black cab drivers, for them to do some travel guide information for visitor passengers.
Just for fun, he would do guided tours of some districts for staff – well staff he got on with anyway – they were always fascinating and always turned into pub crawls.
He could have done Master Mind specialist subject – ‘the pubs of central Manchester,’
My favourite gem of information.
Sanitary Street
He took some of us to an old area of the original Manchester, called Ancoats, which borders Piccadilly Gardens and Victoria Square, dating back to the mid 1800s,
Taken to a street of vintage terraced houses, dating back to the late 1800s, which were originally referred to as ‘model housing’, designed for the mill workers – front doors were about 5’ 6” high.
Their claim to fame being that they had flushing toilets and drains, leading to the fact that the street was originally named Sanitary Street.
Some one hundred years later – whole street refurbished and renamed Anita Street – clever eh?
The Union
Steve had been Chair and Secretary and was still on the committee of my union branch.
Our Union was the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) – which, I had always thought was preferable to the dated and even sexist, alternative union in the college –
the National Association of Schoolmasters & Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT).
The college was so big that we had three NATFHE Union branches, spread over three campuses and a couple of satellite sites.
Our branch covered the Central campus with the river Irwell running right past into Salford. Hence it was The Irwell Branch.
At Steve’s request for a chat we went to our office – the Mark Addy pub – five minutes away on the other side of the river.
Mark Addy – was a heroic historic figure, in that part of Manchester . He had received the Albert medal for rescuing over 50 people from the then polluted waters of the River Irwell in the1800s.
So, the pub was not named after one of the lead actors in The Full Monty film.
Steve says that the current Chair of the branch is about to retire and a candidate to replace him has to be found and that is complicated by the ongoing issues the branch has always had with a Department in the Central Campus called Trade Union Education.
One would think that Trade Union ED. would be the backbone of the Branch – but even I knew that the majority of members found them more of an obstacle.
Whilst I only sat in the audience for open branch meetings – though I did always attend – I had seen that members of – let’s call them T. U Ed. were inclined to take over and had supplied the last three or four chairs – which meant that the meetings could descend into trade union speak with – ‘standing orders’ and ‘point of order Mr Chair’ and ‘amendments to the proposal’ and even ‘amendments to the amendment’ etc.
Steve updated me to the fact that there were other problems related to tensions between college management and the current and last two branch Chairs.
I did know that there had been disputes over lecturer’s T&Cs which had led to a proposal for a strike – which was voted out by the branch membership.
The point being, that the college management had made it clear that they would start playing hard ball unless the branch committee got less militant and more willing to negotiate.
So, ‘all very interesting Steve – or maybe not ‘very’ – but what’s it got to do with me’?
Would I stand as Chair?
You could have knocked me down with a feather!
I pointed out the obvious, that I had no experience in the details of Union branch management – and certainly didn’t speak the same language as T.U.Ed.
The Secretary of the branch, Betsy, then appears along with two committee members – apologies for being late– of course it looked planned.
Another half hour, –the gist of it being- that my lack of a Union background is why there asking me. Too many alternatives have histories – with the management or the branch – and I have no baggage at all, and they don’t want any more trade union-speak at all – just plain English. and an experienced Chair.
Steve pipes in with -‘and you are a very experienced committee Chair outside the college ‘– I realise that his wife has updated him on what I do elsewhere.
Trump card – they have done a straw poll with as many branch members as they can – they are certain I would win a branch vote if necessary, I do know that all the active branch members I know are put off by the T.U.Ed crap and some had stopped attending meetings. completely,
Eventually felt like I had an obligation – and gave in. Duty calls.
Branch Meeting
I won’t bore you with the detail of all the meetings – but they went fine – mostly.
First one. a bit testing though – mostly T.U. Ed pratts of course.
I can’t avoid a brag about this –
first few minutes – following my introduction, to a good staff turn out – filling the large hall – as the new Chair of branch – by Steve, on the top table, as the elder statesman.
I had said maybe, six words – Third row, hand up – ‘Point of Order Mr Chair’ interrupting me – so I am pissed off already.
He says – ‘I am not aware of the branch voting for the new Chair, is this just an undemocratic decision by the committee’?
Bastard! I knew who he was- he had caused trouble at lots of meetings and was well known as a management lackey (I’m sounding like a union achair, already) – it had been rumoured that he was promoted through the grades as a reward from the management.
Steve starts to get up to speak – I say, ‘It’s OK Steve, I can answer this’. and signal him to sit down.
My Plan
1.– I did have years of experience of dealing with people trying to take the piss, or be clever– in lecture, training and committee rooms – and know you have to nip it in the bud early – or you are in for a difficult few hours or even days.
2.- in my preparation, the same point had occurred to me – and I had thought about it – and, just in case, had a sort of plan – so it wasn’t completely off the cuff – just looked like it.
3.- I knew he is generally, very unpopular with most branch members,
I say:
‘You are absolutely right; I believe there were some time issues involved.
However – we have a good turnout of the branch membership here today.
As acting Chair, I can make a proposal without a seconder. So I propose you as candidate for branch Chair and myself of course, and will take a hand vote from the present membership.’
He looks momentarily shocked – then disturbed and then says ‘Oh no, I don’t want to do that’
I say – ‘OK – thank you for your contribution. Let’s move on.’
Even get little rounds of applause in small groups around the hall.
It could, of course, had gone wrong. He says O.K. and wins the vote ! Even thought about that – I just swop places with him and am no longer Chair in which case – they didn’t deserve me anyway.
The rest and subsequent meetings went fine.
Me and Nye
My intention was to talk to Nye as early as possible after the meeting – to square it with him – as he would soon get the news. – I doubted that we would fall out.
This was pre-empted when, early the next day, I was walking across the open centre of the campus and he was coming the other way – I don’t think it was an ambush’
Couldn’t ignore him – so stopped to talk.
First thing he says – ‘What the fuck are you doing?’.
– so, I know we are OK. – it could have been – ‘I’m sorry Mr. Sherlock, I can only speak to you on the record’.
I say – ‘Well, they asked me Nye.
‘They wanted someone with no baggage who could communicate with management.
‘I hope you would rather deal with me than some of the other possible wankers.’
He says – ‘Fair enough – but I’ll be gone in the next six months – you should have done it sooner, Good luck.’
I had one more brief chat with him before he retired – I think we had some mutual respect.