John Parrington for Trustee

I am an Associate Professor of Pharmacology at Oxford University and a Tutorial
Fellow in Medicine and Joint Head of Research at Worcester College, Oxford. I have been active in the UCU since its inception. Since 2018 I have been a member
of the branch committee of Oxford University UCU, and since 2021 I have been
Branch Treasurer.
I believe that I am well qualified for the role of UCU Trustee. As Treasurer of Oxford
University UCU I have been a faithful and responsible steward of the assets of a
large UCU branch with over 2000 members. I also have familiarity with the
responsibilities and challenges faced by a Trustee in a different context, having
played this role at Worcester College, Oxford, since 2002.
I have been inspired being a member of UCU, both in terms of the stance we have
demonstrated in our fight for better pay and conditions at work, and in how we put
equality and diversity at the centre of the way we organize as a union.
Currently we face very challenging times ahead. The failed market approach to
education threatens not only many individual FE and HE institutions but the very
future of quality further and higher education, and unfortunately this failed market
approach looks set to continue under the new Labour government.
Because of these major challenges, we face a major battle in the next few years,
over our pay, which despite the huge contribution that FE and HE make to the British
economy and society, is now worth 30% less in real terms than previously, against
the wave of redundancies in the sector, and against the scourge of widespread
casualization, which are all a product of the failed market model and under-funding.
I am standing for the role of Trustee because I believe that my past experience in the
UCU as Branch Treasurer and my other positions of responsibility make me well
suited to this role, but also because I believe that we need to elect Trustees who
understand that strong unity and organization are key to winning our demands. As a
member of UCU Left I consider inclusive activism the best way to achieve our goals.
As a Trustee I promise to be a faithful and responsible steward of UCU assets,
making sure that we protect our ability to represent members, when they need
representation, and keep our finances in good order, so that can continue operating
as a successful and combative trade union. I support building up the fighting fund so
that we can support major disputes over pay and conditions and casualization, and
the many challenges that we face over the next few years, at both national and local
levels.