Having written at length about why I'm not persuaded that a strike is a good idea when it comes to university pay disputes, I've just learned that Goldsmiths, and maybe a couple of other places, are diverting the money that would have been paid to striking staff to the student hardship fund.
Now that's the sort of thing that might win me over. Staff would still lose out in the short term - that's part of the nature of a strike - but students would get some kind of benefit that'd begin to offset any inconvenience; and employers wouldn't be rewarded for making staff angry. (Not all inconvenienced students would benefit, but some would; and a benefit to the student body in abstracto doesn't mean that every student in concreto would have to feel it. That's probably all that matters.)
If I hear from my employer that there's a comparable scheme at our place, then I think I'd be persuaded. I'd still probably work, but that's because I've got nothing better to do with my time; but I'd be much more likely to register as being on strike.
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