Tag: #UCUCongress2021

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Congress 2021 – Now let’s organise the fightback

After 15 months of HE and FE employers using the pandemic as a justification for attacking the jobs, pay and conditions of their staff, this year’s UCU Congress and Sector Conferences needed to orient and arm the union for a serious campaign of resistance.

It is an achievement that despite the pandemic and the attacks by the employers UCU is continuing its democratic processes.  We appreciate the contributions of Congress delegates and the work of staff in ensuring that Congress happened.  We need to build a democratic union, which draws on the participation of all members, to build the resistance against the employer offensive.

Despite the online conditions and the delayed, individualised voting, this appears to have happened. All the key motions enabling a serious fightback to be launched were passed.

Now these motions need to be put into effect along with a clear timetable for action in both sectors.

HE

In Higher Education, the fight is on to defend the USS pension scheme and to relaunch the Four Fights. Not only were motions passed committing the union to organise action over these issues, but Four Fights motion HE2 was amended to ensure that the ballots and action in the two battles should be coordinated. This makes sense. Separating these fights would mean dividing pre-92 from post-92 members, younger members from those nearing retirement, and would make no sense given that pay, pensions, equality and casualisation are inextricably linked.

We should ballot for both disputes simultaneously on a disaggregated basis to maximise the number of branches that can take action in the autumn.

FE

But the drive for unity must not stop there. Some 20 Further Education branches are already moving to ballot over pay. What better way to signal to government and bosses that our union is determined to fight in defence of post-16 education as a whole than by beginning with coordinated strike days involving all branches with a mandate for action?

NEC and its sectoral subcommittees must put in place the necessary mechanisms for beginning this process at their forthcoming meetings before the summer break. They must also enact the commitments to supporting members in local disputes by paying strike pay demanded by Motion 39 and L4.

IHRA

Congress and HE Sector Conference also confirmed the determined opposition of our union to the imposition of the IHRA working definition of antisemitism. The national leadership must now act on this policy by supporting branches to resist the threat to academic freedom and freedom of speech that this definition represents. Congress again overwhelmingly expressed its solidarity with the Palestinians, but this will be meaningless if a climate of fear succeeds in suppressing expressions of support for the Palestinian cause on our campuses. 

Equality

Congress 2021 also demonstrated UCU’s commitment to keeping equality at the heart of the union.  Motions dealt with practical proposals for advancing our equality agenda in respect of Black Members, Disabled Members, LGBT+ members, Migrant Worker Members and Women Members.  These equality issues must be represented in our campaigning and bargaining work.

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HESC 2021: Defending the principles of Higher Education and resisting attacks on working conditions

Our higher education institutions continue to be a battleground. Marketisation and competition push our employers to drive down the share of income spent on staffing and continually attack our pay, pensions and conditions.

At the same time, the Tories’ political agenda aims to curtail the autonomy of universities and stifle critical intellectual inquiry in favour of a utilitarian conception of education which prioritises STEM subjects. Decolonisation, anti-racism and solidarity with the Palestinians are all in Johnson’s and Williamson’s sights in their ‘war on wokeness’, as is the continued rolling back and delay on legislation supporting LGBT+ liberation, particularly impacting our trans and non-binary colleagues and students.

The priority for this year’s Higher Education Sector Conference is how our union is going to respond to the intensifying attacks on the working conditions of university staff. The continuing existential threat to the USS pension scheme forms one prong of these attacks. The other is the erosion of the value of our pay and the failure of the employers to address persistent pay gaps, rising workloads and the scourge of casualisation. 

Motions HE1-9: Pay, conditions, ‘Four Fights’ & equality across the membership

The first group of motions on the HESC agenda relate to pay and the ‘Four Fights’. We believe it is crucial the union continues to push forward on this groundbreaking dispute – we must resist the separation of its four elements. Pay inequality, job insecurity, pay devaluation and rising workloads are inextricably linked, and one strand will not be solved without addressing the others. Delegates should support HE1’s endorsement of the national pay negotiator recommendations for the 2021-22 pay campaign. These are to declare a dispute if there is no improvement on the employers’ pay offer of 1.5% and the other aspects of the claim, and to launch an industrial action ballot if members reject the offer in a consultative ballot. Even the government’s and the employers’ preferred CPI measure of inflation is now higher than 1.5% while RPI stands at 2.9%. It is likely that any moves to release lockdown will push up prices across the board as companies attempt to recoup their losses.

This year’s claim comes on top of unfinished business in 2020-21 when as a reward for our pandemic efforts we received 0%. Motions HE2-5 all call for re-igniting an industrial campaign around the ‘Four Fights’ and should be supported. Amendment HE2A.1’s call to again link the fight over pay to action over pensions is particularly important. Our ‘dual dispute’ strategy in 2019-20 successfully united members across pre- and post-92 institutions and was only derailed by the onset of the pandemic. 

HE6 makes the important point that there is a link between jobs, casualisation and workloads and provides a model for addressing these issues at a national level. HE8 and HE9 address important but different aspects of equality within our union. HE8 calls for us to ensure our Academic Related & Professional Services (ARPS) colleagues have the tools required to organise within the union and workplaces. HE9 introduces policy which solidifies our demands for employers to take the health & safety of black workers seriously and implement suitable and sufficient risk assessment processes to properly protect black members.
We recommend delegates support motions HE1-HE9 and the amendments.

Motions HE10-HE16: USS Pension Scheme

It is make or break for UCU over USS. The clock is ticking before USS Limited impose devastating cuts on the USS defined benefit Career Average Revaluated Earnings scheme, with the connivance of UUK. The 2020 Valuation creates a situation where UCU members will pay more into their Defined Benefit pension than they can ever expect to draw down, either because benefits will be cut or contributions raised, or both. Members will likely then leave the scheme, risking driving the scheme into closure.

More negotiations without industrial leverage will not materially change this. There is no clever technical fix, whether CDC or Conditional Indexation, that will change that equation. 

We have to stop the 2020 Valuation being imposed. The only way to do that is through building a fightback with a plan for escalating and hard-hitting strike action. We need to rally around the strategy elaborated in Motions HE11 and amendment HE11.A1 (preferably not HE11.A2) and HE12. We need action in the autumn term, which means a ballot over the summer and getting organised now, otherwise it will be too late.

There is an issue regarding the ‘SWG Principles’. We think that now is not the time for mixed messages and compromises we will live to regret. We call on members to support HE13. This sends a clear message to the employers and our members that we will not compromise in fighting for their pension – which will be essential in getting the vote out and mobilising members onto picket lines. 

Members should listen to whether there are any consequentials announced on the basis of Motion HE10. If there are no consequentials, and other motions are treated as amending the report, then vote for HE10 and amend it by supporting HE11, 12 and 13. But if HE10 is treated as causing HE13 to fall, colleagues should vote against HE10 but vote for the other motions. 

We ask delegates to vote for HE14. We will need a legal challenge to support industrial action. Its costs are only a fraction of what members will lose. Vote for HE15 – we need governance reform – but this should not be seen as an alternative to industrial action. Vote against HE16 or for remittance, because of problems with Resolves (b) and (c).

Motions HE17-HE20: Resisting funding cuts, advancing equalities, fighting discrimination

This grouping of motions address diverse issues impacting our members, and which go to the heart of our fight to defend post-16 education. HE17 addresses pensions inequality for women and calls on UCU to ensure TPS and USS are fully equality impact assessed, that we commit to fighting damaging changes to both schemes, and for webinars to help educate and empower members around pension inequality. HE18 and HE19 both address the ideological government cuts to ODA research budgets. These cuts were sudden, plunging scores of researchers at all career stages into uncertainty and with their livelihoods snatched away. HE20 highlights the impact of discrimination and casualisation on promotion in HE and calls on HEC to produce tools to help branches to organise around this issue. 
We recommend delegates support motions HE17-HE20.

Motions HE21-40: Defending conditions and addressing inequalities

All motions in this section should be supported. HE21 strengthens the union’s commitment to support local disputes, avoiding the current practice of withholding strike pay from disputes which do not meet criteria of ‘significance’. HE23, HE27 and HE34 are all about building a campaign against the threat of the IHRA’s working definition of antisemitism to academic freedom. HE28 seeks to defend the right of staff and students to engage in peaceful protest and lawful picketing on our campuses. These democratic rights are threatened by the corporatisation of HE institutions and the Tories’ Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill. HE40, as amended by LGBT+ Members’ Standing Committee clarifies and reaffirms the unions’ commitment to defending academic freedom and ensuring the human rights and wellbeing of trans and nonbinary members are not eroded under the disingenuous deployment of ‘freedom of speech’ arguments. Amendment HE40A.2 strengthens the motion with specific examples and actions; however, we recommend delegates support the motion with or without amendments.

HE29 seeks to address the acceleration of the adoption of technological solutions such as Artificial Intelligence and Automated Decision Making in the HE sector in the wake of the pandemic. It is important we equip members to deal with these technologies as universities continue to embrace learning technology in the hybrid classroom – something unlikely to go away any time soon. The theme of learning technology is picked up again in Motion 36, calling for research on the impact and implementation of tech in HE. 

There are a number of motions that address ethical issues in the way HEIs operate and expand. HE30, HE31, HE35 and HE37 all recognise intersecting issues that impact our members and our students, and we urge support for these motions. The employers’ organisations are highly unlikely to be in favour of the open negotiation raised by HE32, but the motion should be supported on the basis that the possibility is worth exploring. We are in favour of the recruitment drive in private providers proposed by HE33, and for the attempts to address the various dangers to our working environments and practices arising from the pandemic raised by HE35 and HE36. We welcome HE38’s call to resist teaching-only institutions, the spread of which would be detrimental to both students and staff. 

Prepare for the battles to come

HESC provides an opportunity to solidify and sharpen our union’s campaigning at the close of a very difficult year for many. We urge delegations to vote to strengthen the hand of national negotiators and branches, and to prepare for the struggles ahead.

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FE sector conference 21: We need a UK-wide fight over pay and conditions

This year’s FE sector conference is set in the context of a government lining up to impose another decade of austerity. After ‘needlessly allowing tens of thousands of people to die’, the government and the employers now want to make us pay for the public health crisis.

This offensive will come in a number of forms. Further cuts in our pay, worsening our conditions, more attempts to control our working lives and increased attempts to divide us through racism, transphobia, sexism and ableism.

We are told by government that the sector has worked miracles and that further and adult education are central to the future post-coronavirus world.

Indeed, we are. We have made many sacrifices to ensure that our students continued to get the education they deserve. Some of our members have paid the ultimate sacrifice through losing their lives.

Despite these warm words there is no extra funding to match them. The government’s White Paper on FE/Adult Education was trumpeted as a ‘revolution’ by Gavin Williamson, the education minister. Of course, it is nothing of the sort. Stupidly, many of our employers have joined the government in celebrating the White Paper.

But it will do nothing to put the sector at the centre of rebuilding society after the pandemic. The whole thrust of the government agenda is more narrow skills-based courses where young people will have no jobs to go to at the end of them. More marketisation and more power for government to ‘intervene’ to impose its ideological agenda on to our colleges and communities.

This marketised model will not match the many-sided ambitions of working-class students. It will do nothing to reverse the institutionalisation of mass youth unemployment. It will further marginalise our BAME students who are disproportionately affected by the cuts in funding.

We need a UK-wide campaign of strikes and protests.

Pay cuts, increase in workloads and more managerialism will be the order of the day – if we let them. But we don’t have to and we shouldn’t.

Congratulations to those 30 or so branches that got through the government ballot thresholds and delivered brilliant votes for action over pay. The union must now throw the whole of its resources behind those branches who are now entering a statutory ballot and we all must deliver the solidarity they will need to win when they take action. These branches are fighting for the whole of the sector and not just to get their members better pay and conditions. If they rise, we all rise. If they sink all our boats go under.

But we should not be in a position where only 30 branches across England managed to get across the thresholds. It was quite clear that there was no serious campaign to GTVO. A few all-members emails and leaflets sent to branches the same week the ballot opened does not constitute a campaign. When we compare the kind of publicity, resources and campaigning that takes place to ensure that HE branches get across the line we can see how little was done to get the same result in the FE consultation ballot.

We cannot stop the storm that is coming our way college by college. Case-working our way out of a government-led offensive simply won’t work. We need to mobilise the whole of FE with all branches taking part – no ifs and no buts. This is why the late motion submitted by the Croydon College branch is so important. It calls on the union to launch a national campaign of protests and strikes over workload and pay where ALL branches are to be balloted and regional offices are put on a war footing to ensure that branches are fully equipped to GTVO and beat the union thresholds.

A union that cannot deliver UK-wide action is one that will cease to be effective.

Adult Education – stop the clawback

If proof is needed to show how meaningless the government White Paper is then we just need to look at what has happened to Adult Education.  The sector has seen a 50% cut in funding in the last decade. Over one million students’ places have gone. Now the government want to clawback £68m from colleges who did not reach their targets that were set during normal times.

If the government gets its way with this clawback it will have a devastating impact on Adult Education. The union must launch a campaign across England, first to stop the clawback and then launch an offensive to win more funding for Adult Education. This conference must signal its determination to fight for Adult Education. It can start by supporting London Region’s call for a protest outside the Treasury on the 16th June.

 Motion FE6

Motion FE6 from Manchester College is very problematic and we urge delegates not to support.

The authors of the motion use the term ‘grade inflation’, a term that positions UCU, if passed, to the right of all education unions and runs contrary to UCU existing policy. It echoes the arguments put by the likes of the Daily Mail who use ‘grade inflation’ to keep out working class students from getting into university.

It is true that more students gained and will gain a good (ie 4-9) GCSE grade last year and this, compared with students who sat exams. We should celebrate our students’ achievements at all times but especially during the extreme challenges our students faced during the pandemic. These results reflect our students’ real abilities rather than their inability to beat a clock under exam conditions. The authors seem to accept that exam-based qualifications are a fairer and more accurate form of assessment, which also goes against existing UCU policy.

It is rather ironic that the first year in many that the term ‘grade inflation’ is not being used by government or colleges, because they accept that more students will get good grades, the UCU Manchester College branch reintroduces it to reinforce this elitist practice coming out of lockdown.

We must protect our members from unrealistic targets set by managers through continuing to campaign against numerical targets and for a progressive assessment model.

We call upon delegates to support motion FE26 from Yorkshire and Humberside Regional Committee. This motion puts forward a progressive approach to dealing with inequalities within the assessment process that, if passed, takes the union forward, unlike motion FE6.

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Resist pandemic-inspired attacks on our rights and working conditions

Congress meets at a time when UCU members (and working people generally) face major attacks on our democratic and employment rights.  Our employers are using the pretext of the pandemic to further tighten their managerial grip and drive through cuts and detrimental changes to working practices. At the same time the Tory Government is attempting to bring back the Augar reforms of Higher Education, threatening a cut in fee to universities to £7,500 per student, and pushing for the ‘polytechnicalisation’ of Post-92 universities. All activities deemed “financially unviable” are under threat, as the redundancies at Leicester and Liverpool, and the wholesale course closures at London South Bank University show.

At a national level, the employers in both FE and HE aim to further squeeze pay and undermine our pensions, in the case of USS to the point of threatening the scheme entirely.

Congress is the opportunity for our union to orient itself to fight these attacks, building on the magnificent resistance currently shown by the Liverpool University branch to launch national action that can push the employers back across the board. While public campaigning and other forms of industrial action have a role to play, strikes are the decisive weapon for winning these battles. The victory by our EIS colleagues in Scottish FE against ‘fire and rehire’ shows that concerted national action can win. 

At the same time the government is waging an ideological offensive in universities and colleges. At present the principal instrument of this attack is the IHRA “working definition” of antisemitism, which they wish to impose on universities, having seen its success against the left in the Labour Party. UCU must organise to throw out this attack, re-emphasising that antisemitism is quite simply a kind of racism, and criticism of Israel is not racist.

Following on the heels of this attack is their “Free Speech” Bill, which seems contradictory given their blatant attack on free speech on Palestine. But in the Tory mindset this is entirely consistent. Universities are to be silenced if they support the “wrong kind” of free speech. 

We thus face a multi-pronged ideological assault to promote a Conservative agenda, to attack anti-racism and trans rights on campuses, and to weaken staff’s confidence to challenge the government over its own policies, from Covid-19 mismanagement to denying structural racism. 

Alongside fighting for jobs, defending pay and conditions, it is our union’s task to defend academic freedom and freedom of expression from these threats, while standing firmly on the side of the oppressed.

As well as defending ourselves, we must stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people, building the movement for Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions, and educating world opinion about the Nakba and the case for a free Palestine. We must oppose vaccination nationalism and gross inequalities worldwide in access to healthcare. We must insist on escalating hard-hitting action on the climate and nuclear disarmament.

We very much welcome the fact that even though the prioritisation process has produced an ordering of motions, Congress will endeavour to complete as much business as possible.  Where branches, regions and other bodies have gone to the trouble to debate and submit motions, we believe UCU Congress should debate this business. We encourage colleagues to speak quickly in order to move through the agenda, especially on non-controversial motions. Congress is the supreme policy-making body of the union and we should ensure it is as effective as possible. 

Education Committee (Motions 1-3), Saturday morning

UCU Left recommends support for all motions and the amendment in this section.  It is really important to defend education in the Arts.  UCU Left rejects any elitist view that the overall majority of students should only study degrees defined by narrow vocational outcomes and that subjects such as Art and Humanities are not for “the plebs”.  We utterly reject the view that studies in these areas are “low value” or have no relevance to employment.

While the Education section of Congress is short in terms of the number of motions, these issues are very important for UCU members.  We are all pleased when our students get better jobs as a result of their studies, but we absolutely reject the view that education is only about employment and the needs of the economy.  Education should also be about enjoyment of learning, of developing people as human beings and of producing critical, thinking citizens.  We oppose any model of education in which the arts and humanities are reserved for a small elite, while the mass of the population is only given an education based on a narrow vocationalism.

Equality Committee (Motions 4-18), Saturday morning

There are many important motions in this section.  It is important that support for people affected by Long Covid is identified as an equality issue.  We do not know at this stage of the pandemic how profound the effects of Long Covid will be. We can say that there is a need for support both from the NHS and from employers.

The motions and amendments in this section address many aspects of UCU’s equality agenda.  We need to take forward the task of affirming that Black Lives Matter through the proposal for an annual day on this theme and through the work of decolonising the curriculum.  We must address gender equality in terms of supporting women’s right to walk safely anywhere and in terms of tackling the gender pay gap.  Trans people need equal rights in terms of reform to the Gender Recognition Act and an end to discrimination and harassment.  We must recognise and support the ongoing disability rights agenda and the need for educational work in this area.

Most of the motions in the Equality section of Congress should be supported, including motions 4-10 and the amendment to motion 10 from the migrant members standing committee.

On motion 11, ‘End gender-based violence’ from the women members standing committee, we recommend support for the motion and for amendments 2 and 3.  We recognise there may be debate around amendment 1, but propose support for the motion regardless of the outcome of the vote on the amendments.

Motions 12 to 14 address the IHRA “working definition” of antisemitism and the Jerusalem Declaration.  UCU Left supports motion 12 from Exeter, as amended by the NEC.  

We must maintain UCU’s rejection of the IHRA document, which creates a false equivalence between racism against Jews, i.e. antisemitism, with criticism of Israel. Many universities are “adopting” this badly written definition, often in secret. Some are saying that they will use it in complaints and disciplinary processes. Others are silent on how it will be used, but vexatious complainants are citing its adoption. We are already seeing instances of witch-hunts against pro-Palestinian staff and students. 

We need a serious and systematic campaign in branches against the adoption of the IHRA working definition. This is a context in which it may be useful to calling on universities to adopt the Jerusalem Declaration to neuter the IHRA document. This is a tactical question, and not one of principle. 

We support motion 13 from London Region and all the amendments to it. We appreciate the positive intentions of motion 14 from the University of Northampton, but we think the appropriate step is to “remit” it to the NEC for further discussion. It is not clear what “adoption” of the JD would mean for UCU, and as such it would be as inappropriate for members to rush to vote on this as it would be for our employers.

We support motions 15-18 plus the amendment to motion 15.

Recruitment, Organising and Campaigning Committee (Motions 19-32), Saturday afternoon

Under the ROCC agenda there are important areas including tackling the climate emergency and building a united union, which ensures it addresses the needs of all members.  UCU Left recommends support for all motions and amendments in this section.

There is a major negotiating agenda around the shape of the workplace post COVID.  We are in favour of flexibility for workers with proper support for homeworking.  We are opposed to both compulsory homeworking and an enforced return to full-time attendance in the workplace and it is the duty of our employers to provide the equipment and resources we need to do our jobs, wherever we are based.

We support motions around improving the position of casualised staff.  This is a central issue for the future of trade unions.  We welcome motions on pensions and on housing.

Strategy and Finance Committee (Motions 33-54), Monday morning

This section of Congress business contains some important motions around international solidarity, climate justice and peace and disarmament.  It also contains some important matters which need to be debated around how we run UCU.

UCU Left recommends support for motions 33-36 which deal with formal matters related to the running of the union.

We recommend support for motions 37 -42 and the amendment to motion 37. Motion 38 commits the union to actively oppose the attempt to curtail the right to protest. The regularisation of rules regarding the allocation of strike pay called for in Motion 39 is essential to ensure members get the support they need when they take action.

On motion 43 Composite: Financial disclosure and transparency Southern regional committee and University of Leeds, we recommend support for the motion and opposition to the amendment from City College Plymouth, which weakens the motion.  

We recommend opposition to motion 44 Electronic voting at Congress, FESC and HESC South West regional committee This motion is in our view mistaken when it talks about votes truly reflecting individual views and confused about whether Congress votes should be open or secret.  We should remember that Congress delegates are delegates, who may have been elected on manifestoes and publicly-stated positions and that their job is to reflect the views of their branches which elected them, not solely their personal views.

We recommend support for motions 45 -54 and the amendment to 54.

Rules (Motions 55-67), Monday afternoon

There are a number of proposals in rule changes which we support because they enhance our democracy and representativeness.  We support motion 55, which updates our equality agenda, by including a reference to gender identity.  Similarly, we support motions 56 and 57.

We support motion 58 relating to the quorum of sector conferences from the University of Leeds.  This enhances our democracy and reduces the danger of sector conferences being made inquorate by the absence of delegates who by convention do not vote on the issues being debated.

On motion 60: Congress Membership and New/Small Branches University of Sheffield International College we recommend that delegates listen to the debate.  There are issues of how small branches can participate in Congress, but there is also a case for a minimum number of members to qualify for a delegate.

We oppose the proposal from South West regional committee (motion 61) to put a reduction in speaking times at Congress into Standing Orders  It is possible to reduce speaking times by suspension of standing orders, but we do not need to do so in all circumstances.

We support motion 62 from Yorkshire and Humberside retired members branch which enhances our representation of retired members.

We recommend opposition to motion 63 from South West regional committee.  This motion is about putting electronic voting into rules.

We support motion 64 for a National hustings event.  This is useful democratic measure.

We recommend opposition to motion 65 from South West regional committee.  There is no good case for this move and UCU needs to deal with its financial business.

We support motions 66 and 67 which are democratic reforms supporting the participation of retired members.

Recommendations for elections to be held at Congress

FE National Pay Negotiators – Margot Hill, Julia Roberts, Richard McEwan

HE National Pay Negotiators – Marian Mayer, Sean Wallis

HE National USS Negotiators – Marion Hersh, Deepa Govindarajan Driver

Conclusion

UCU Left wishes all delegates a happy and enjoyable Congress.  We hope that next year we can all meet up in person.  If you like what you have read in this leaflet, please consider joining UCU Left.

Click here to join UCU Left!

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HEC Report 5th February and Congress voting

UCU leadership still dragging its heals on defending members

The special  HEC met on 5th February, to discuss the union’s response to the latest developments in the Covid crisis against a backdrop of the discussions that emerged at the NEC Briefing on Section 44 held on the 22nd January https://uculeft.org/report-on-nec-briefing-on-section-44-and-collective-action/. A number of motions and amendments to the Committee Secretary’s report were tabled and heard. It is a step forward that the national committees of the union are now running and able to get through the business brought to the meeting by its elected members. There remains an organisational problem of the holding of these meetings with voting being held after the meeting has finished rather than in real time. Our Congress meeting this weekend and on Tuesday will hold real time voting for a Congress with hundreds of delegates but we can’t get voting for under 40 HEC members organised timeously. That one third of HEC members did not respond to their voting email suggests HEC members, just like members generally, are missing or unable to respond to emails in the deluge of work they are undertaking in their day jobs.

The Committee Secretary’s report was voted through and will now develop updated guidance on issues around extensions of the academic year, assessment and develop bargaining advice on the use of Equality Impact Assessments and work-life balance along with updating advice on any return to campuses for members and branches to use. Motions on the need for rapid health and safety training, the empowerment of members in the use of section 44, excessive workloads and student mental health and digital poverty were all carried overwhelmingly. That one or two HEC members actually voted against these motions we may generous put down to accidentally pressing the wrong button!

Disappointingly, and indicative of the division in the HEC is the fact that all amendments to the Committee Secretary’s report or motions that mentioned collective action or developing industrial action strategies in response to the challenges members are facing were all lost. That HEC did not follow through on the discussion at the NEC Briefing and consistently voted against all attempts to ensure participatory mass meetings or industrial action strategies highlights that the majority of the HEC are not prepared to lead members and instead branches are being left to defend members on their own. Leicester UCU is just the latest HE branch to face a threat to jobs and the targeting of departments. Many branches, most recently Dundee, have stopped these immediate redundancies after a joint staff student campaign culminating in an ultimatum that unless they were withdrawn the branch would ballot for industrial action. But defending members branch by branch is insufficient. We face a UK wide national threat not aberrant individual employers.

The strategy being adopted by the current HEC is little more than acting as an advice agency for branches. UCU Congress this weekend has an opportunity to ensure activists force UCU to start acting like a trade union in response to members calls for solidarity and support. Voting advice for motions to the original UCU Congress can be found

https://mailchi.mp/uculeft/uculeft-congress-bulletin-2706401?e=da6232a93a

UCU Left recommends voting for all the late motions