Dear subscribers
Your reballot papers for #ucuRISING should start arriving by post today - PLEASE VOTE YES for both strike action and ASOS to give us a renewed mandate for the next phase of our action. But, as yesterday’s video pointed out, you also need to vote in the NEC elections. We are now in the final week, and the last safe posting day without a first-class stamp is this Thursday 23 February. After that please do whack on a stamp to be sure of arrival in time. Please, send that final email or WhatsApp message around to your contacts, reminding them to vote.
We have reached an epic moment in the UCUNEC campaign - our final spotlighted video, and we’ve saved one of the best until last. Dr. Chris O’Donnell is running for not one, not two, but THREE seats (don’t worry, he’ll only take one if elected!). Chris is standing to be President and Honorary Secretary of UCU Scotland, and UK-wide rep (HE). Already coming to the end of his two-year term as a UK-elected rep, Chris has done vital work in bringing the plight of post-92 universities to the forefront on NEC and HEC, seconding the vital motion on student number controls that HEC finally passed in May 2022.
Chris is an academic psychologist at the University of the West of Scotland, which is Scotland’s biggest widening participation university. For more than 20 years he has been a committed union activist, at branch, regional and national level. As he says in his election statement, fairness for post-92 staff is fairness for all of us in the Higher Education sector: ‘We all want a fair day’s wage, manageable workloads, inclusive rewards and conditions and security for an honest day’s work. The experience of the fragility in the post-92s can be essential for change in all sectors. Your dedication, skills and love for our work have been exploited day in and day out, and it’s gone on too long; support us to continue our outstanding actions.’ This is complemented by a line in Chris’s video, which sums up his selfless approach perfectly, ‘I want to represent you and elevate your magnificence’.
And, if you’re not able to vote in Scottish elections, of course, you can vote for Chris for a UK-wide seat so he can carry on the vital work he’s already begun.
You can read Chris’s election statement here or scroll down to the bottom of this message where it is reproduced in full. Follow Chris on Twitter here.
In solidarity,
UCUCommons
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Chris O’Donnell (UCU Scotland President, UCU Scotland Honorary Secretary and UK-wide NEC)
Who am I, and why me?
I am a Head of the Psychology department at the University of the West of Scotland. It’s Scotland’s leading widening participation university. I’ve been a union activist for 20+ years and served as an elected local, Scottish and National Union official. I am a UK-elected NEC post-92 member. I am a member of UCU Commons.
Our national strike ballot and amazing strike action have shown that UCU is at its best when we are an inclusive of all genders, races, member-centred, & student-partnered union. In my election address for UK NEC, I promised to listen to our members and work to prioritise your goals, such as an aggregated ballot and subsequent UK-wide action. I’ve used the mandate to build a union, its plan and outcomes representing you.
Why is it time to elect a post-92 member to these critical positions?
What’s been clear from the post-92 member, communications, and my lived experience as an activist in post-92 is that post-92 universities are very different from those of the ancient, chartered institutions.
The utility of elevating the post-92 experiences into our collective action tells me that the time is right for a post-92 member to be in both of Scotland’s roles. A robust representation of post-92 voices and experiences has led to post-92-focused initiatives at the heart of our collective actions that benefit us all. It led to the successful passing of UK-wide motion on capping numbers in England to enable all of our institutions to be valued and the creation of a post-92 working group in Scotland.
For instance, Scottish post-92 branches are worried that winning in #ucuRISING will mean managers’ squandering of scant resources risks a low-wage strategy being the only viable one. It cannot continue. Elevating our experience in the post-92 institutions will help us draw out financial mismanagement in the Sector and turn the face of the Scottish Government to the reality of their cuts and their impact on post-92s.
Why vote, and why me?
Now is the right time to use the plight of post 92s to lead change for us all.
We all want a fair day’s wage, manageable workloads, inclusive rewards and conditions and security for an honest day’s work. The experience of the fragility in the post-92s can be essential for change in all sectors. Your dedication, skills and love for our work have been exploited day in and day out, and it’s gone on too long; support us to continue our outstanding actions.
