Tag: covid-19

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Report on NEC Briefing on Section 44 and collective action

UCU’s National Executive Committee met for the first time this year on 22nd January for a “briefing” and discussion on the potential for collective action in colleges and universities in defence of members facing the risks of in person activity during the worsening Covid-19 pandemic. We were disappointed that NEC members were not allowed to bring motions or make any policy decisions at the meeting but pleased that we were able to discuss some of our key concerns

The meeting was reminded of legal protections offered in the Employment Rights Act 1976 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 providing individual workers with the right to refuse to work in an environment within which an immediate danger to life exists and imposes a requirement on employers to take reasonable steps to ensure employees’ safety. Referred to in abbreviated form as ‘Section 44 and 100’, UCU has developed a range of draft letters members can use to demand the right to refuse to undertake in-person activities:

https://www.ucu.org.uk/covid19letters

NEC members heard a detailed report on how the National Education Union successfully mobilised its members in halting the re-opening of schools earlier in January. As a result Gavin Williamson was forced into a humiliating climbdown and closed schools just one day after opening. The NEU were hugely successful because of the on-going discussions and involvement of members taking place at all levels. The strong leadership shown by NEU and its NEC in campaigning for mass use of Section 44 and 100, by encouraging members and non-members to submit letters to their school Heads, and the co-ordination of this through their branch and reps network, was crucial to this. NEU’s level of organisation is far beyond what UCU is doing. In NEU processes for industrial action ballots have been fast tracked and steamlined, and all NEC members are required to work with local branches to co-ordinate the use of Section 44 and 100 letters and then report back to the NEC, to ensure accountability of elected members. Branches and reps at local levels are organising WhatsApp groups to facilitate immediate communication with members. As a result, NEU have been able to repeatedly call national meetings of thousands of reps at just a few days’ notice and held a historically unique meeting of 400,000 participants.

The briefing also heard from the UCU General Secretary and other officials about the actions the union has taken in supporting individual members; including Jo Grady’s welcome public statements calling on universities and colleges to move away from in-person activities or face industrial action from UCU. These include the success at Northumbria University which was the first union branch in the UK to successfully ballot over section 44 and 100, and at individual colleges, such as New City College, where the UCU branch replicated the initiatives of the NEU and rapidly stopped in-person teaching last week without a ballot. Notwithstanding these individual examples, the overall approach of the UCU leadership has unfortunately been in stark contrast to the mass mobilisation, national strategy and strong collective action taken by NEU. In general, UCU’s strategy has been to focus upon individual rather than collective approaches, placing a servicing rather than an organising model at that heart of our response. We have not matched anything in NEU and more problematically not attempted to emulate their experience. We have struggled to get the nationally elected bodies to meet and members meetings are top down affairs restricting engagement and discussion. Even our NEC emergency meeting was a ‘briefing’, with only a short time for discussion and devoid of any potential for decision making. Astonishingly in the face of the public health crisis, the NEC is not set to meet again until 19th March.

Following the briefings NEC members had the opportunity to discuss the UCU response to the pandemic.  Across the NEC there was extensive frustration over this servicing model approach which clashes with the understanding of the lessons taken from the Strike School which recognises the importance of bold, decisive action and the mobilisation of the membership at the heart of our approach to winning demands. It was argued repeatedly by NEC members that this is impacting especially hard on our Black, disabled, women and casualised members, as we are well aware that inequalities have been reinforced due to the Covid crisis. These frustrations were not directed at staff, who are recognised as working as hard as the members in ensuring the union operates in the midst of the pandemic. However, it was recognised that the NEC does need to look at the extent to which our staffing is sufficient for an organising union.

NEC member after member across the board spoke of the increasing dangers of the working environment in both FE and HE, and in our communities, with moving references to the loss of friends, family and colleagues to COVID.  Many reps expressed the view that there is no time to wait, and UCU leadership needs to urgently build collective action to assert our right to work safely. Disappointingly the General Secretary made no commitment to take on-board elected representatives’ concerns, focusing instead on the logistical challenges of organising mass online meetings. It is clear from NEU’s experience that not only is such mobilisation possible, it is also essential.

Fortunately, due to pressures from NEC members, both FEC and HEC are due to meet over the next few weeks. These need to move quickly to change the direction of the leadership of the union. While most universities and colleges have very limited in-person activity the current branches resisting job cuts and the return to in-person working show the need for urgent, nationally co-ordinated, robust action by UCU. The terrible deaths of our members, such as Donna Coleman at Burnley College, cannot be allowed to be replicated by our managements which will put ours’, and our students’, health at risk for their profits.

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Report from NEC November 2020

Jeremy Corbyn speaking at Adult Education Parliamentary Lobby
Jeremy Corbyn speaking at UCU Parliamentary Lobby

Report from NEC November 2020

The UCU National Executive Committee (NEC) met on 13th November with England in a second lockdown and the devolved nations continuing with their own approach to restrictions as covid cases multiplied across the UK. UCU has documented over 45,000 cases in UK universities and colleges since September, an under-estimate due to the inadequate reporting from universities and colleges. The NEC consisted of three main items; the General Secretary’s Report, a Report on an Interim UCU Congress and motions from members.

General Secretary’s Report

Unsurprisingly, the General Secretary’s report focused extensively on the union’s response to the covid crisis. UCU has received significant positive media coverage to our demand for on-line by default. It is clear that universities and colleges have lobbied extensively governments to dilute attempts to limit face-to-face provision. FoI requests in Scotland showed specifically that Universities Scotland were instrumental to diluting guidance allowing universities to force students back into halls of residence in September.

The success of the Heriot Watt dispute, a potential White Paper on the re-nationalisation of FE in England, the success of forcing the devolved administration in the north of Ireland to back-off from cuts to pay and conditions of staff and in Wales UCU has won protection for guidance for vulnerable staff all formed the content of industrial reports.

UCU has written to Gavin Williamson MP highlighting our opposition to his demand that universities should adopt the IHRA definition on anti-Semitism. UCU’s policy is to support the defence of Palestinian rights and a rejection that anti-Zionism should be conflated with anti-semitism.

Interim UCU Congress

As is known the interim Congress scheduled for a fortnight ago, which many were delegates to, did not take place because UCU HQ had decided to commission its own software to run the three-day online event.  The software turned out to be deficient and delegates were informed of the Congress cancellation on the morning it was due to take place.  There was much disgruntlement, not least as delegates had rearranged classes and other work to attend.  Many delegates were bemused at the decision to commission bespoke software as they have been using suitable platforms for their own teaching and large branch meetings. The decision to commission software was not taken by NEC, nor was NEC consulted. The development had taken up a lot of time for HQ staff.

NEC agreed that the two days of Congress will be in different weeks and are likely to be in week beginning 14 December. Interim Sectors Conferences are likely to be January and will be one day each, FESC will probably be on a weekend as delegates in FE (and it should be said many in HE) cannot get time off on week days without advance planning. HQ had been planning to use Microsoft Teams for these Conferences with voting on reports taking place prior to the conferences and voting on motions post-event.  However, a motion was passed agreeing to make plans to use Zoom as the platform for Congress, Conferences and NEC.

Motions from Member: A democratic deficit

The NEC meets only four times a year and increasing amounts of important business are being timed out.  It is generally NEC members’ motions from which are lost, as they are put at the end of the agenda (unless found to fit with an earlier item).  However, they generally cover very important and urgent issues which cannot be left until the next meeting.

Only five out of sixteen motions were discussed and voted on and one on solidarity with a branch in dispute was withdrawn as the branch had won.  These were two motions about rescheduling interim Congress, an emergency motion on defending postgraduate researchers during Covid and a motion supporting a branch in dispute. Shockingly a solidarity motion of support for a disabled Black man, Osime Brown, facing deportation was remitted in a vote 24 for  23 against. For UCU NEC not to back an anti-deportation campaign goes against UCU policy and has rightly been widely criticised. UCU Left voted to oppose remission and would have voted for the motion if given an opportunity.

The ten motions that were timed out included four on responses to immediate issues, mainly Covid, one on UCU accountability, one on environmental issues (particularly important in view of the current climate crisis), one on UCU accountability, two on solidarity with campaigns outside UCU (an important role of trade unions) and two on responding to the USS pre-92 pension crisis.  The USS motions could not be heard by HEC as they covered a legal challenge and were deemed to be NEC business.

The NEC used to receive more reports from officials.  It is not clear whether fewer reports are being produced or are just not being discussed at NEC. Two recent important issues provide examples of the weaknesses of this limitation on NEC’s scrutiny. The decision to commission a new platform for interim Congress and to action the levy are examples of issues not put on the NEC agenda before they are implemented and have resulted in criticism from members.

There is clearly a need to change the way the online NEC is run to ensure that business is not timed out and both motions from members and other important issues can be discussed fully. NEC members should not end up frustrated and feeling that NEC is turning into a rubber stamping exercise.

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Report of May 1 UCU Emergency NEC online meeting

UCU’s national executive committee (NEC) met online on May Day, 1 May. This was an emergency meeting called only after more than half of the committee had demanded it.

Society is in a permanent emergency, but Higher Education is at the edge of a financial precipice as the tuition fee market is expected to crash leaving universities bankrupt. Our members in FE are confronting job loses and management attempting force to implement a ‘business as usual’ approach.

The question is whether UCU will lead a UK-wide to fight to defend the sectors.

The meeting held on Teams was 2.5 hours in length — half the time of a normal physical NEC meeting.

The paper submitted by Sean Vernell and Sean Wallis proposing a way of framing the a UK-wide response of the union in a coherent way was ruled out of order on the basis that it was two days late. Despite the movers of the paper pointing out that much of we are doing currently is outside of rule, including the online NEC meeting itself (and its shortened form), sought leniency. The outgoing President resisted all attempts to include it, prevented any discussion of it and refused to accept a challenge to his ruling.

NEC heard a lengthy presentation by General Secretary Jo Grady on the steps the central union was taking. She defended her actions in writing to Government ministers, and commissioning and publishing reports from London Economics, without reference to the Higher Education Committee which had not met.

UCU’s intervention had stopped the UUK’s proposal from being adopted by Government. This is positive step. However, without a rapid bailout, employers are likely to now announce redundancies.

We cannot case-work our way out of a crisis. Nor can we fight branch by branch.

It was not until 3:50 that the meeting was permitted to debate the only motion tabled on Education and post-Covid recovery. That motion (attached below) was passed, amended to add reference to specific defence of casualised members. This motion called for a UK-wide response to the crisis. We will now need to make sure that this motion is enacted upon so that UCU is in a position to mobilise our members in defence of post-16 education.

The ‘Democratic Continuity’ paper — which was not debated by NEC — delegated powers to the General Secretary on the same basis as if the Covid-19 lockdown was the annual summer vacation.

Equality areas need urgent attention, especially given the national meeting of equality reps that was postponed from 3 April. When will this be reconvened?

In the meantime, NEC passed five other motions: on UCU’s equality organising, supporting the call from Diane Abbott and Stand Up to Racism for a genuinely independent public inquiry into BAME deaths from Covid-19, defending trans members and students, opposing the Hostile Environment and providing immigration advice.

Resolution 6. Education and post-Covid Recovery (as amended)

NEC notes:

  1. The crucial role of post-16 education in prosperity, individual development and post-Covid recovery
  2. The likely negative impact of Covid on college and university finances
  3. The risks of job losses and increases in casualisation
  4. The importance of education for (young people) who do not have employment

NEC agrees to launch a UK-wide campaign, call for support from trade unions and community organisations and ask GS to write to PM for:

  1. Removing college and university fees.
  2. Additional fully funded places at less prosperous and struggling institutions so all young people can have a college or university place.
  3. Significant increase in government funding to make up any shortfalls, that all casualised workers jobs will be guaranteed equally in the next two years, alongside those of permanent colleagues, and no permanent worker should be disadvantaged for refusing to cover the work of a casualised colleague in the event of job losses.
  4. Full support for health service, disability support needs and economic recovery that, given the scandalous injustices of precarious work highlighted by the covid crisis, that full occupational sick pay now be extended to ALL casualised workers in all universities and colleges and prison departments
  5. Cancellation of Trident.
  6. Progressive ring-fenced increase in taxation to cover the costs e.g. 2% over £30,000, 4% over £50,000, 6% over £100,000.

Passed overwhelmingly.

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Open letter – Covid-19 demands a rethink of Higher Education funding

End tuition fees and market competition

This open letter was launched 31 March 2020 for immediate publication on the HE Convention website. You can add your name on this Google Form.

Covid-19 is a wake-up call for the whole of society.

Higher Education faces an existential financial crisis just as university researchers bend every effort to defeat Covid-19.

The benefits of HE are not just limited to research. Mass education from secondary to university created a scientifically-literate population. They drove the shutdown, demanding Boris Johnson and his Government acted.

But Higher Education itself has been undermined by a combination of Government policy, high tuition fees and management greed.

In 2010, the ‘ConDem’ Government raised home student undergraduate tuition fees from £3,000 to £9,000 a year, and (mostly) abolished block grants. Within three years, mature and part-time student numbers had almost completely collapsed.

Undergraduate numbers were controlled until 2014 when (with the exception of Medicine) the Government removed limits on student recruitment.

This lit the touch paper on a conflagration. For a £9,000 fee, university managers could make easy money out of undergraduate teaching. With no limit on the number of students universities could recruit, many expanded rapidly and built new campuses. But others, mainly post-92 universities, found their student numbers squeezed by intense competition for places in so-called ‘top’ universities. Brand name, not teaching quality, dominated. Undergraduate expansion encouraged further recruitment of overseas students and taught postgraduate courses, where fees could be even higher. Scottish Universities, not permitted to charge high fees, pursued overseas student recruitment in particular.

Before Covid-19, this system was already teetering on the brink. Universities were reportedly indebted by over £10 billion, and the total UK student loan debt had reached £121 billion by March 2019. Undergraduate student numbers were falling and several universities were rumoured close to bankruptcy.

Covid-19 changes the economic equation. Universities in the UK can now expect a sharp fall in total student numbers in September. Many students will delay applications for a year or two rather than apply for online courses. Some universities are contemplating delaying the start of term until January. It may be several years before the overseas student market recovers.

Already there is talk about bringing back the ‘cap’ on student numbers, even temporarily. But more drastic action is required to save Higher Education. Unless the Government acts now, the UK will see mass redundancies of university staff.

We the undersigned believe now is the time for a new deal for UK HE.

It is time to end the disastrous market experiment.

It is currently unthinkable that the Conservatives will privatise the NHS. Schools and further education know that their funding for next year is guaranteed. But Higher Education is uniquely vulnerable to a short-term fall in student recruitment.

  • We need emergency measures to stop universities going bankrupt. If unemployment rises as a result of a downturn, universities have an essential role to play in re-skilling mature students.
  • We need to return to the principle that Higher Education should be available to all who can benefit.

We call on the Government to:

  1. Abolish the current tuition fee system and underwrite the sector. Bring back the block grant.
  2. Work with university managements to safely exit expensive building projects and long-term loans.
  3. Agree that in the meantime there should be no redundancies, and staff on fixed term or other casual contracts should be paid as normal and not dismissed.

Initial signatories include

Carlo Morelli, UCU Scotland President, University of Dundee
Sean Wallis, UCU Branch President, UCU NEC, University College London
Julie Hearn, UCU Branch President, UCU NEC, Lancaster University
Lesley Kane, UCU NEC, Open University
Deepa Govindarajan Driver, UCU Branch President, UCU NEC, University of Reading
Mark Abel, UCU Branch President, UCU NEC, University of Brighton
Marian Mayer, UCU Branch Co-chair, Chair South Region UCU, National Negotiator, Bournemouth University
Sue Abbott, UCU NEC, Chair Equality Committee and Women Members standing Committee, Newcastle University
Pura Ariza, UCU Branch Equality Officer and UCU NEC, Manchester Metropolitan University
Cecily Blyther, UCU NEC, Petroc
Steve Lui, UCU NEC, University of Huddersfield
Lesley McGorrigan, UCU NEC, University of Leeds
Margot Hill, UCU London Region Secretary and UCU NEC, Croydon College
Lauren Heyes-mullan, FE lecturer, The City of Liverpool College
David Whyte, UCU Branch Vice President, University of Liverpool
Bob Jeffery, UCU Anti-Casualisation Officer, Sheffield Hallam University
Annie Jones, UCU Branch Officer, Sheffield Hallam University
Malcolm James, UCU Branch Treasurer, Head of Department of Accounting, Economics & Finance, Cardiff Metropolitan University
Chris Collier, Associate Lecturer, Anglia Ruskin University
Kathryn Dutton. UCU Yorkshire and Humber Region Chair (HE), York St John
Brian O’Sullivan, UCU West Midlands Region Chair, Bournville College
Sunil Banga, UCU Branch Vice President, Lancaster University
Peter Dwyer, University of Warwick
M Yasacan, PhD candidate, University of Keele
Stefanie Doebler, Lancaster University
Leon Sealey-Huggins, Lecturer, UCU Branch Committee member, University of Warwick
Katucha Bento, University of Leeds
Fatima Rajina, Lecturer
Shirin Housee, Course leader in Sociology, University of Wolverhampton
Johanna Loock, University of Leeds
Erik Jellyman, Research Associate, Lancaster University
Joss Winn, Senior Lecturer, UCU Branch Secretary, University of Lincoln
Roddy Slorach, UCU branch organiser, Imperial College London
Richard Mcewan, UCU Branch Sec, UCU NEC Elect, New City College THC Poplar
Michael Rees, Lecturer in Sociology, UCU Rep, University of Wolverhampton
Benjamin Vincent, University of Dundee
Thomas Gallagher-Mitchell, Lecturer, Liverpool Hope University
Rhiannon Lockley, UCU Branch Secretary, Birmingham City University
Samantha Wilson, Student/EAP Tutor, University of Leeds
George Lovell, Lecturer, Abertay University
Yvette Russell, University of Bristol
Ronald Mendel, Associate Lecturer, University of Northampton
Graham Smith, Deputy Subject Leader for Psychology, University of Northampton
David Saunders, Deputy Subject Leader, University of Northampton
Richard Dixon-Payne, Retired HE lecturer,
Nils Markusson, UCU Branch Treasurer, Lancaster University
Sonya Andermahr, Reader in English, UCU Equality Rep, University of Northampton
Mark Baxendale, UCU Branch Committee member, Queen Mary University of London
David Swanson, UCU Branch President, University of Manchester
Georg von Graevenitz, Senior Lecturer, Queen Mary University of London
Mike Orr, UCU Branch Committee member, Edinburgh University
Shirin Hirsch, UCU History co-rep, Manchester Metropolitan University
Eamonn Leddy, UCU Branch Secretary, Capital City College Group (Centre for Lifelong Learning)
Nina Doran, UCU H & S rep, City of Liverpool College
Naomi Waltham-Smith, Associate Professor, University of Warwick
Grant Buttars, UCU Branch President, UCU Scotland Executive member, University of Edinburgh
Katie Nicoll Baines, Project Manager, University of Edinburgh
Anne Alexander, UCU Branch Committee member, University of Cambridge
Linda Jorgensen, Lecturer, The City of Liverpool College
Claudia Campbell
Megan Hunt, Teaching Fellow, University of Edinburgh
Nadia Edmond, UCU Branch Chair, Falmer, University of Brighton
Verity Bambury, Lecturer, The City of Liverpool College
Tucker MacNeill, UCU H&S Rep, Falmer, University of Brighton
Penny Hope, Lecturer, City of Liverpool College
Cheryl King, Lecturer, City of Liverpool College
Julie Brennan, Leader of KS 4 provision, City of Liverpool College
Carol Cody, Liaison Secretary, City of Liverpool College
Tony Sullivan, London College of Fashion (UAL) Branch Secretary , University of The Arts London
Ümit Yıldız, UCU Black Members Standing Committee, Manchester University
Andrea Genovese, University of Sheffield
Richard Smith, Reader, University of Warwick
Prof Gargi Bhattacharyya, University of East London
Anna Robinson, University of East London
Richard Smith, Reader, University of Warwick

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Covid-19: People before Profit: control the lock-down

Why we must act now!

On Thursday 12 March, Boris Johnson spoke to the UK press flanked by his scientific advisors. Live on air he told Britain “your loved ones will die”, and that the Government had moved from ‘containment’ to ‘delay’.

He stopped short of closing schools, colleges and universities, but it was too late. LSE, Durham, Nottingham, Bristol all announced an end to teaching. By Friday, many more had followed suit. Johnson declined to stop ‘mass gatherings’, primarily large-scale sporting events. By Saturday, Premier League matches and rugby internationals were being cancelled. Johnson is not in control of events.

Across Britain a major debate is furiously raging. Is the Government doing enough? The Irish Government shut schools, why not the British? The Tories say they are relying on ‘herd immunity’ rather than lock-downs. Will this work, or is it a grim gamble at our expense? The footage of Italian sufferers treated in camp beds in sports halls and tents show what we have in store if Johnson’s gamble fails. The NHS will be overwhelmed.

Alongside the scientific debate, Johnson is discrediting himself. His behaviour is clearly motivated by business continuity rather than saving lives. A shutdown is on its way – it is just a question of when rather than if. We should argue to put life before profit and shut down now.

Meanwhile we are all learning ‘social distancing’ and washing our hands regularly. This crisis is a practical challenge to trade unionists and how we organise at work.

Control the lock-down

UCU’s NEC on Friday voted to demand the government close all colleges and universities. A range of motions were passed that outlined how to deal with issues that will emerge due to the coronavirus.  All branches should arrange branch meetings as soon as possible to discuss how best to ensure that your college/university management put the interests of staff and students first.

Trade unions are the independent staff voice for health and safety at work, and the defenders of basic rights at work. The rights we enjoy on a daily basis were not granted by generous employers in the past! Rights to rest breaks, annual leave, maternity and sick leave, the right to say no and stop work in the face of unsafe practices, and the right to manage personal risks were all fought for by trade unions in the teeth of employer opposition.

Not everyone can work from home, and many jobs require workplace attendance throughout the Covid-19 emergency. Medical staff and medical researchers in universities will need to continue to work in labs and hospitals. Researchers in other disciplines, such as artificial intelligence and statistics are volunteering. And student doctors and nurses may be hastily drafted in. And none of this can happen without cleaning staff, security and transport.

Campus unions should make sure that they play a central part of the decision-making at the university and college to identify which staff should stay. Staff working in labs to improve treatment or even find a cure for Covid-19 will of course need to stay working. We should support them and ensure they have safe working conditions to do so.

But it would be untenable for employers to keep other staff at work whilst students have been sent home. Our health is at risk too.

We must be alert to emergency measures becoming long-term and permanent. We have to control the lock-down. Where staff work from home, the home (or part of it) becomes part of the workplace. Suddenly, and without consultation, we are expected to work in a workplace:

  • where we pay for rent, heat, light, equipment, broadband, etc,
  • which is usually not insured for this purpose,
  • which may be unsafe (the equipment/office/space is not evaluated for health and safety),
  • which may be shared by other members of the employee’s family, including children (especially if they are also sent home), and older relatives.

Any change of this kind tends to fall more severely on women, who frequently carry the additional burden of caring responsibilities on top of working. There are major (in)equalities implications for staff.

Working from home also allows the employers to minimise costs to themselves if staff are expected to self-isolate (as distinct from being physically unable to work).

Some workers will welcome working at home. Many have long been denied the right to work from home by ‘presenteeist’ managers who presume their staff are slacking if they are not physically in offices! But many, especially in London, already live in overcrowded home conditions.

But precisely because working from home involves a major change in contract, a change in workplace and a change in legal obligations, no employee should feel compelled to accept such a change. And even if a change is accepted at one point in time, staff must have a right to change their mind. Many employers have work-life balance policies that staff and reps can use to push back. (Go to this website: Cardinus – Health, Safety and Risk Management Specialists to find out health and safety regulations for home working.)

Defend the frontiers of control

Universities and colleges like to think of themselves as the guardians and transmitters of knowledge. But market competition for high fee paying students has turned many into teaching factories. Casualisation and workloads have skyrocketed. Getting staff to teach from home offers the prospect of a wholesale change in work practices managers can exploit. It seems certain student numbers will fall next year. We can expect managers to pass cuts on as redundancies.

Some managers will see this crisis as an opportunity to persuade staff to take their teaching on-line.  Already universities are using platforms like Moodle and Blackboard to distribute classroom content to students and collect student submissions. They imagine on-line teaching that could be delivered internationally with fewer staff. The fact that to do so and make a profit is extremely difficult will not stop them from trying.

They also imagine collating a reservoir of recorded teaching content that could be used to break strikes. In many universities there have been big battles over recording lectures. Employers initially wanted to insist that Lecturecast was an opt-out system, but it was only when branches pushed back that they accepted it should be ‘opt in’. Crucially, many universities have agreements that state that recordings are archived after a year and deleted after two. Reps must continue to be vigilant.

A public crisis demands publicly-accountable science. Trade unionists should defend the necessary prioritisation of work aimed at saving lives. But we must insist that the results of research must be shared – whether these be to inform public opinion and democratic decision-making, or to ensure best medical practice to save lives.

In Italy workers have stuck to attempt to control the lock-down.  Workers at the Fiat car plant in Pomigliano, near Naples, successfully took action to force their employers to shut down production. Other workers followed suit and the FIAT employers have had to shut down a number of plants.

UCU members have demonstrated over the last 14 days that we have the power through our collective strength to fight to defend our pay and conditions. We now need to use this collective power to protect our communities, families and loved ones.

As history has shown, we cannot rely on the likes of Johnson and the establishment to put working people’s interests first. Only we can do that.

Resources

For a useful overview of world trade union response to the Covid-19 virus, see LabourStart.

See Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now for an excellent detailed account about the virus and why we must act now. It has had 28 million views so far and is regarded by many scientists as the best account so far about the reach and impact of Covid-19.