The place of unions in the academy

It’s a shame that Grove has fallen for the hackneyed trope of 'the hard left' in UCU. Branches across the country are furious with the deficit of democracy and leadership in UCU. Sally’s absence due to a disability is regrettable, and I am proud that my union supports staff with disabilities, but what we have now is a union run by non-elected partisan officials. This will deepen the dissatisfaction amongst memebrs that was so evident at congress in May. Time for a change in the structure of UCU. And dare I say, better reporting from TES. You really shouldn’t believe everything you hear from the old guard. Try listening to the membership.

It’s a shame that Grove has fallen for the hackneyed trope of 'the hard left' in UCU. Branches across the country are furious with the deficit of democracy and leadership in UCU. Sally’s absence due to a disability is regrettable, and I am proud that my union supports staff with disabilities, but what we have now is a union run by non-elected partisan officials. This will deepen the dissatisfaction amongst memebrs that was so evident at congress in May. Time for a change in the structure of UCU. And dare I say, better reporting from TES. You really shouldn’t believe everything you hear from the old guard. Try listening to the membership.

Rather than being a "hackneyed trope", it is, as I said in my THE piece of 17 June, "disingenuous to deny and naive not to recognise the leading role played in the UCU Left by the SWP and ultra-left allies with their own political agendas". The JEP report has thoroughly vindicated both the strikes and sacrifices made by tens of thousands of UCU members in February and March in defence of USS pensions AND the strategy adopted under Sally Hunt's leadership and voted for by the majority of pre-1992 HEC members to put the proposal to set up the JEP and call off further strikes in May-June to a ballot of members - a strategy that was vigorously opposed on HEC and at Congress by UCU Left. In that April ballot, 64% of members on a record 64% turnout supported that strategy. It is the SWP and its hard left allies, not the "old guard", who need to listen to the membership.

Having watched the UCU course swinging and swerving from almost centre to hard left and back, assisted by a rep on the NEC from my Uni, I have little doubt most members have issues with the Unions leadership and politics when it doesn't match their personal politics. Walking out doesn't answer those issues, but simply makes the discontentment worse.

Clark Sackett