Together we can build a stronger union

 

My name is Sally Hunt. I have been honoured to be your joint general secretary since merger having been elected general secretary of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) in 2002.

 

Experience, vision and commitment

 

My parents were teachers, my brother was a lecturer - my personal values are rooted in education. This is my twelfth year at AUT/UCU – the last five as general secretary. I have the experience, vision and commitment to lead our new union and seek your support to continue this work.

 

UCU must focus on improving services so every member has access to help; on better lobbying so we can promote your professional interests, and on campaigning so we can win on workloads, pay and contracts.


As AUT general secretary since 2002 I put those priorities into action by:




My focus now is on UCU’s future

 

In UCU, I have continued this work, campaigning to save jobs, lobbying ministers on academic freedom and workload, producing new guidance for fixed term staff and giving members who faced losing their jobs the opportunity to meet ministers face to face.

 

Now UCU must look forward, not back. Below I set out our challenges and my programme to deliver on them for you:

 

Championing our profession

 

UCU must champion our profession - celebrating universities as institutions of research and scholarship, colleges as the embodiment of life-long learning and both sectors as vital to a vibrant civil society.

Opposing education “for profit”

 

We must oppose anything which degrades that vision, including "for profit" universities, "contestability" in our colleges and the contracting out of prison education.  All are privatisation by any other name.

Defending academic values

 

Academic freedom is the bedrock of democracy. I will lobby government to extend the to the rest of the UK the legislation won by AUT in Scotland that protects academic freedom for HE and FE staff

 

Reform of governance

 

We must challenge universities and colleges to reform governing bodies by making the case that academic freedom requires control of content to be with practitioners.

Better, fairer funding

 

We must take the argument for higher and fairer funding to the public, and explain that in our universities academic innovation and higher quality require more money not less. In our colleges we must argue for the eradication of the gaps in funding of 14-16, 16-19 provision, a review of resources for those delivering “HE in FE” on a shoestring and against cuts in adult education provision.


Acting on casual contracts

 

The union has thousands of members on fixed term, part-time and hourly paid contracts.  We must negotiate with employers to increase job security but also address our arguments directly to funding bodies.  We should campaign for funding councils in both HE and FE to make best practice in employing staff a condition of grants.

Reducing workloads

 

Workload is what members ask me about most. UCU members are dealing with an audit culture that is out of control, professionally demeaning and harmful to personal health and family life.

 

Together we need to tackle workload by campaigning for:

 

Improving pay and pensions

 

AUT and NATFHE made some advances on pay. Recent HE settlements have been better than previous, and the MOU increased salaries in pre-92 universities. Yet salaries remain low relative to other professionals, and a small gap is opening up between pre and post-92 institutions. UCU must benchmark the best conditions to "level up” so all members benefit wherever they work.

 

We must defend academic related members too, insisting on decent conditions, promotion, pay structures and respect for these key staff. Pensions are deferred pay and UCU must also resist attempts to reduce benefits in either USS or TPS.

 

A fresh start in FE

 

We now have a national agreement in Wales, but much more to do elsewhere. National strikes have become an annual event in FE. As I write we are waiting for 100 colleges to implement the 2003 agreement. New strategies are needed to deliver pay parity. Strike action should be used only where widely supported and as part of a wider campaigning strategy.

 

Improving services

 

In UCU I will continue to shift resources from internal bureaucracy to provide more professional staff to support members locally.

 

Delivering equality

 

Promotion, salary, contract and seniority should be based on ability not gender, age, race or anything else. This is an issue for everyone and UCU must do better at explaining its importance to members in terms which are inclusive rather than excluding.

Politically independent, members first

 

UCU must be politically independent, and avoid political infighting.  We need unity not factionalism so I will increase member participation in policy making.  I sought members’ views on research funding and will commission a new UCU manifesto for post-16 education, consulting you directly on what it should say.

 

Ballots before boycotts

 

Participation is also important to ensure policies have member support.  If conference passes a motion for academic boycott of another country I want to put the issue to a ballot of all members first.

 

A union of all our members

 

I helped create UCU because we are stronger together. Whichever union you were a member of; whichever sector you work in, help me build a better, stronger union. I seek your support on that basis.

http://www.sallyhuntucu.blogspot.com/