Campaign Aim
Fairness 4 GTAs was a PGR-student led campaign fighting for King's to recognise the important contributions PGR students are making to King's higher education, public service and research output, by:
- providing fair payment and working conditions to all PGR-students who took on teaching or supervision responsibilities.
- acknowledging the contribution of PGR students outside of their PhD project through the creation of further paid Graduate Teaching Assistant and Graduate Research Assistant positions.
Campaign Impact
Fairness 4 GTA's was active as early as 2014 and their website GTAs at King's College London details all their major achievements since the 4th March 2015.
In 2014, the campaign encouraged the increase of the hourly pay rate of GTAs in line with the rest of the salary structure as part of the collective bargaining agreement between KCL and staff. They also established the GTA Framework that recognises paid training, office hours, seminar preparation, marking and lecture attendance. In talks with the University, the campaign guaranteed that every GTA at King’s has a clear contract and payslip that reflects the standards in the GTA Framework.
In November 2018, Fairness 4 GTA'S circulated the petition 'fairpaygta' of support for the campaign that reached 150 signatures! The College Education Committee had been planning on approving a new policy for the 28th November that implied a drastic change for GTA training, pay, and ‘status’. This was the tipping pint for action, following on from the university's previous promise in 2016 to work more closely with GTA reps and not following through with recruitment since. The campaign group staged an emergency picket on the day of the policy change outside of the Institute of Psychiatry on Denmark Hill Campus. This action asserted influence over the jursidction of GTA righhts in one of KCL's most underlooked departmemts and gave rise to the voices of GTAs and their supporters, in the context of change being initated for them without their control or representation.
Following on from this protest, the campaign circulated a survey for Fair Pay for GTAs surveys which ran between November 2018 and February 2019, this collected evidence on the working conditions and pay of GTAs at KCL. The campaign later attended a Senior Management Team meeting and presented the GTA survey results to the Principal and his team of VPs. They pressed the group to accelerate their response to our demands, and to instigate a group that would review the role, training, and pay of GTAs. This fortunately lead to the College's decision to set up the GTA Strategy Group, led by the Vice Principal Nicola Philips. The group’s task was to present a new model for GTA pay, training, and terms and conditions to the College senior management team.
The last impact initiated by Fairness 4 GTAs is recorded from February 2022. Alongside ensuring the GTAs who missed their 2022 one-off payments were paid the appropriate amount and reviewing the marking and assessment policies in King’s to curtail overwork conditions - they were granted a seat on the College Education Committee to represent GTAs views.
To research into the extent of progress made by this campaign from 2014-2022, please visit their website.
Want to get involved with this campaign?
If you want to learn more about this campaign, or you can even see yourself picking up Campaign@KCLSU.org we'd love to hear from you.
Additionally, the King’s Doctoral Students’ Association (KDSA) is the recognised representative body of the Postgraduate Research (PGR) student community within King's Student Union. Should you wish to be a part of this association, you should visit King's Doctoral Students' Association website page the and claim a free membership!