In this post we offer a suggested list of priority motions that your branch or region might like to consider when you respond to the UCU Congress and HESC 2021 prioritisation consultation.
We found the process of identifying motions that should be prioritised problematic for various reasons. Fundamentally, we believe that if branches and regions have submitted motions in good faith they should be heard by Congress or Sector Conference, because these are the ‘sovereign bodies’ of our union according to our constitution. Congress / Conference amend the union’s rulebook and decide on the union’s policy. Any pre-filtering prior to the debate, whether it is by a select group or delegates, is a restriction on democracy. It also reduces the opportunity for new ideas and issues to be considered and for proposals to be tested in debate.
That said, it would be remiss of us not to argue that Congress 2021 has some key policy decisions to make. These include:
- Workplace safety in the context of COVID
- Support for workers with long COVID
- Negotiating around homeworking
- International solidarity, especially in the context of Myanmar and the persecution of the Uighurs in China
- Defending the right to protest
- Ending violence against women
- Continuing to strengthen our policies in support of LGBT+ members
- resisting the IHRA working definition and defending academic freedom
- (in HESC) HE national bargaining and USS pensions
With these themes in mind we have focused on motions we believe are the most effective motions for the union to unite around. This is in many cases because they identify specific actions and/or raise new areas of policy.
We have deliberately restricted our recommendations to a smaller number than the total number of priorities permitted because we expect that branches and regions will wish to bid for their own motions, or those proposed by particular Regions or committees.
Education Motions
ED2 – Sussex motion on cuts to Arts & Humanities.
Equality Motions
EQ2 – Long Covid.
EQ4 – Demands UCU BLM Day.
EQ9 – Sarah Everard & gender based violence.
EQ11 – NEC motion on GRA reform and defence of asylum seekers.
EQ12 – LR’s IHRA motion.
ROC Motions
ROC2 – Liverpool anti-cas.
ROC3 – ARPS working from home.
ROC4 – Retain the right to work remotely re Covid, esp those who can’t be vaccinated.
ROC8 – End UCU bias towards pre-92 unis.
ROC13 – Climate crisis composite.
Further consider prioritising:
ROC5 – Learning tech and casualisation.
SFC Motions
SFC6 – LR general fightback over safety, jobs, pay, equality, casualisation
SCF8 – Access to strike pay for local disputes.
SFC10 – Right to protest.
SFC12 – Free immigration advice from employers.
SFC18 – Cancel Trident and get rid of nuclear weapons.
SFC20 – Solidarity with Hong Kong & Uighurs, no Cold War with China.
SFC22– Solidarity with Myanmar.
Rule Motions
R1 – Inserts ‘gender identity’ into equality clause.
R5 – Give equality standing committees two delegates each.
R6 – Ends compulsory aggregation for delegate entitlement.
R8 – Establish a retired members committee.
R10 – Reduced quorum for sub-sectoral votes.
HE Sector Motions
HE2 – Brighton motion on Four Fights.
HE4 – Fight on workload and casualisation.
HE5 – Change rule for electing pay negotiators.
HE6 – Support all local disputes better.
HE9 – Address promotion discrimination including a national agreement.
HE11 – Build USS fight (UCL).
HE13 – Legal action on USS.
HE15 – Resist adoption of IHRA.
HE19 – Fighting research funding cuts & casualisation.
HE29 – End discrimination against overseas students – fees, visas etc.
HE30 – Support student rent strikes.
HE34 – Raise LGBT+ awareness (teaching and research).
Further consider prioritising:
HE10 – Reject USS valuation and fight.
HE14 – Women’s equality regarding pensions.