UCU NEC elections:
Vote Deepa Govindarajan Driver for South HE
Grassroots candidate with strong national experience
As an NEC member & HE officer
- I support fair pay and decent pensions
- I oppose the pernicious culture of precarious work
- I encourage reasonable workloads for all and improved working conditions
- I support members receiving decent strike pay, so that all our members can participate in action, without experiencing financial distress.
- I value union density and collective strength. We must ensure our union keeps subscription rates progressive and reasonable. Members should be able to afford not just to join UCU but also to stay in UCU.
Union positions held
- Vice-chair, Higher Education Committee, and member of the National Executive Committee
- National negotiator, Pensions
- National negotiator, Pay and Equalities
- Chair, Legal Services Review Panel
- Branch Pensions Officer
Career
- Lecturer, University of Reading since 2008; I teach regulation, state and corporate accountability, risk and ethics
- Financial Regulator (FSA); I have also worked at Citigroup, Lloyds Banking Group and in consulting undertaking roles in governance, risk, compliance
Across Britain, Dickensian levels of inequality afflict society. We have seen a steady erosion of public services and human rights, while a small number of people profit. Neoliberal approaches are particularly corroding Higher Education and our students. At many universities the wage bill is shrinking while management prioritise new shiny buildings and expenditures on white elephant projects. UCU must actively defend members and press for decent pensions, pay and working conditions, while credibly standing up to any attrition of time-honoured rights.
As an experienced NEC member from the Southern region, I have a strong track record of contributing to the democratic structures and decision-making of our union. I have undertaken a range of duties including working with branches at times of job cuts, campaigning on issues of pay, terms and conditions, supporting members in difficulty, and seeking the right inputs to allow member-led national decision-making.
To do this well, our union must act together in solidarity. As an experienced member of UCU’s NEC and having undertaken duties both nationally, and locally as branch President, I have first-hand understanding of the real challenges at local, regional and national levels. I work well with reps and colleagues across the FE and HE and respect our democratic structures and deliberations. I strongly support UCU’s equality agenda and the need to manage workloads and end casualisation.
We earn the trust of members and the respect of our community by consistently walking the walk, not just talking the talk. I am a grassroots activist, who has represented members, participated in democratic structures, negotiated hard with employers, stood on the picket line, lobbied parliamentarians and got the vote out. I am committed to collegial working and to upholding union democracy. Please vote for me and for other UCU Left candidates.