Welcome to the first TAU international Volunteers-managed blog! This blog has been created to give complementary information to the graduated students of TAU and to create a community where we can share thoughts and information. This blog is not affiliated to any of the TAU services or bureaucratic apparatus and it is meant to be an informal tool where people can be updated, alongside the Whatsapp group and the informal word-of-mouth. Each student or post-doc is more than welcome to approach and participate in the creation of this blog, acting as a volunteer (with a little basic commitment) but also as an user, where they can collect any sort of information. All of the content posted on this blog is under the responsibility of the person who wrote it and posted it. UPDATE 06.11.23 Guidelines for the WhatsApp group 1.Respect & Kindness: Treat all members with respect and kindness. Be mindful of your tone and language. 2. Stay On Topic: Keep discussions releva...
This post will be bittersweet. Things happened in these days, but we haven't had the time to discuss and to write them down.
Now that I have some more information and time, I can give a picture of the current situation.
Let's start from the Postdoc bonus: we tried a strategy to demand it from the PI with an official paperwork of the university, to give something to the ones who are really in need of help.
Once SEGEL sent out the email encouraging people to ask, the secretaries of the various departments started checking on what's going on, and they eventually declined to proceed with the documents (the ones signed by the PIs). Not because the papers are not valid, but because this procedure is not meant for the postdocs. One secretary notified us that postdocs cannot receive the one-time payment, but they are in an easier position to receive a bonus directly from the PI, who can independently raise the scholarship for up to 200% (or 225% with special approval) for one month (or more, in order the achieve a certain amount) and later reduce the scholarship rate to the normal.
In this secretary opinion, people leaving in September might still be in time for this possibility, for which "they should invest time".
But this is unfair and frustrating: they are again bouncing back the ball to us. We are again at the beginning. At least, there will be the scholarship increase in October.
In the email sent by SEGEL (14.09.23) we came to know that "... In addition to that, we would like to inform you that last week we sent a petition to the university administration with the demand to increase the scholarships by 12.5% for master's and third degree students and by 25% for postdoctoral students.
Although many hundreds of fellows have signed the petition, the university refuses to increase the scholarships beyond 5% for most graduate students and 10% for postdoctoral students, despite the data on the increase in the index and the cost of living. "
Thus, the University it is firm on its position, and the organization is willing to escalate to a protest and to a partial to total strike of the researchers.
Additionally, this week something worse happened.
I won't put any name or details of the situation, because I need to defend myself, since I am now in troubles.
I happened to be in the office of this person, who basically said that "people from the international school" are very annoyed by the SEGEL initiatives and missions, and they told me that I am losing my time to follow a (meaningless) struggle for the students, as we all (PhDs and Postdocs) are on a scholarship provided by the university and it is more than enough, that the lack of money of a scholar is an individual issue and that I am diving into something that does not lead anywhere, especially because I am not an employee (and if I understood this reasoning, this means that I don't have rights and I should not fight for them, i.e. only employees have a labor union).
This person got to know about my participation in SEGEL as they said that someone at the International School is very pissed off about these battles for the increase of the scholarship and my affiliation to it.
In between the lines, by the way this person acted and told me, to me it looks like a threaten, like saying "go ahead like this, and I will stop your PhD as now you are entering the 5th year and your position is easier to stop" . I believe that this attitude comes from a strong push from someone above in the hierarchy, as they repeatedly told me that "people in the international school are annoyed and pissed off".
Well, at least we got their attention.
Given this condition, I am very afraid and I feel like I have a Damocles sword on my head. This is the way I interpret this conversation and the feelings I got.
I hope you will understand my fragile situation, and that the only thing I can do now is to say things loud, as they are. It's my only possibility to explain what's going on and how I feel.
I should keep a low profile, now. And I will, I have no choice. I think that you guys are capable to understand. Facts talk.
And here below I want to share the post we put on our FB webpage, a summary of what happened this academic year to our scholarships and financial challenges. We tried our best and, again, facts talk!
Comments
Post a Comment