I have plenty of work to do today but I feel too depressed to start without letting steam out here first. This depression stems from hearing news the whole week through about the pay cuts that our fellow civil servants, the doctors employed by the Institut CatalĆ de la Salut, are being forced to accept. I know weāre next in line, again, after the 5% cut of last year. Actually, Iām told weāve been about to get only 50% of our pay check this month, which would possibly mean ruin for many of us with dependants, a mortgage or both.
I didnāt particularly want to be a civil servant employed by the state. I wanted to teach English Literature at a Spanish university and thatās what it takes. I was lucky in that I was employed full-time since I was first hired 20 years ago, whereas younger teachers are hired, if at all, as grossly underpaid part-time associates. Iāve been, anyway, a āmileuristaā for 5 years before I got my doctoral degree and for five more years after that until the age of 36. 11 years in total to get tenure. When I got it, after two gruelling state examinations, my salary doubled overnight and since then, 9 years ago, whatever pay rises Iāve got have come from extras such as increments for each three-year teaching period or six-year research periods. I lost, by the way, the money for one whole six-year research period with the pay cut last year and, even with the extras, Iāve been steadily losing 3 to 5% of my purchasing power every year because I canāt remember when our basic salary was raised for the last time. Of course Iām describing a situation common to everyone in my profession. I get nicely by and reach the end of the month without major glitches because I (still) donāt have a mortgage, nor dependents. I have no idea about how, say, divorced teachers with 2 children and a mortgage manage.
Now that for the first time I find my monthly income threatened I have mixed feelings. I know that unemployed people will not sympathise with me but, then, Iām seeing civil servants made redundant āwhat a euphemism- in Greece and even France. And, remember, it took me 11 years of immense sacrifices to get here for the sake of a vocation consisting of wanting to educate young people; and my case is sooo… very common. Material rewards are the only way we have of measuring our value for our society, to which we give plenty. Iām sure Spain could do without me and even without all Literature teachers but if we take that road weāll go back quickly to the dark times of the illiterate dictatorship or even worse. Maybe thatās the bottom line. What angers me most is that each civil servant is paying our of his or her pocket for mistakes made by others above us, the politicians whose salary is never touched. I still have a nice enough margin to reach the end of the month by buying cheaper clothes, restricting restaurant outings, etc. Yet Iād like to explain that 90% of the books I use for teaching and research come out of my pocket, and that attending international and even national conferences will be soon out of question, with or without Department or research project help. Iāve never counted this, but we teachers possibly reinvest around 10% of our salary on our professions. In contrast, a colleague in Finland tells me he gets income tax reductions even for painting his home office. They, of course, have the best educational system in the world.
Today 30 September is the first time Iām not sure the money for the next month will be in my bank account. It might not be there soon enough. Yet I MUST be in class, do my research, go on organising that conference. Weāve collectively believed that weāre much richer than we actually are and now that weāre slowly sinking into our actual poverty, I can only say āI told you so, the bubble had to burst.ā Doctors, teachers are already paying for the āprivilegeā of giving society what any society needs: good health and good education. Pay less, weāll still be there, do our best. But for how long? And who, in view of all this, will want to accept the sacrifices it takes to follow in our footsteps?
There’s a partial solution to these problems… DOWNSHIFTING. If there’s pay cuts, insufficient salary, lousy tenure-track conditions, no money for research… well, perhaps it’s only wise to cut down on expenses, working only so much, and stop organizing (and attending) conferences and suchlike. Unless you really enjoy it so much you can’t stop yourself from doing it!
Indeed, JosĆ© Ćngel: the weekenda are mine again, and if I spend them reading academic stuff or literature this is for my pleasure…. I’m just sorry that students will get less personal attention from me but I’m only human, right? Thanks for keep on reading me.