Category Archives: Elections

Enthused by being on the picket line? Want to be a UCU rep?

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Thank you to everyone who picketed! Some of you are in schools or departments that haven’t elected a UCU department rep, or an anti-casualisation rep, or a postgraduate rep, or a workloads rep, or a health and safety rep. Could you do that role? If you’d like to do any of these roles, or you can think of a colleague who’d be good for the role, please send your nominations to ucu@leeds.ac.uk by the end of Wednesday 15 January. If you want to know more, there’s a bit more detail in this post or you can talk to another UCU rep or email ucu@leeds.ac.uk Unsure if all the roles are covered in your school/department? Here’s the current list of UCU department reps. (There have been a few additions in the busy run-up to the strike – if we’ve missed one off the website please email ucu@leeds.ac.uk!) How to nominate someone to be a UCU department rep Just a quick email is fine, saying something like “I nominate [name of colleague] to be the [UCU department rep / UCU anti-casualisation rep / UCU postgraduate rep / UCU workloads rep / UCU health and safety rep] for [my school/department]. To be a … continue reading

New UCU committee elected for 2019-2020 academic year

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At the UCU University of Leeds branch annual general meeting 16 May 2019 members voted to elect the following members for the branch committee for the academic year 2019-2020. The current committee remains in post until 31 July. The new committee takes over from 1 August. President: Ben Plumpton Vice-president: Chloe Wallace Immediate past president: Vicky Blake Treasurer: Jonathan Saha Honorary secretary: Tim Goodall Membership officer: Alaric Hall Equality officer: Dima Chami Campaigns officer: Lesley McGorrigan Health and safety officer: Neil Maughan Anti-casualisation officer: Arunima Bhattacharya Ordinary committee members: Aisha WalkerAlan RoeAndi RylandsAndrew MallinsonAndy WestBrendon NichollsGabriella AlbertiHugh HubbardKate HardyLata NarayanaswamyLaura Loyola HernandezMark Taylor-BattyMark WalkleyMegan PoveyPaul SteensonRachel WallsSimon Hewitt

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Minutes of general meeting 2 May 2019

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Thursday 2 May 2019, 1pm – 2pm Roger Stevens lecture theatre 4 (8.04) Minutes Agreed Amendments to motions on the UCU congress agenda Amendment to EQ17 Gender Identity after the 2018 Gender Recognition Act (GRA) consultation Line 3: At the end of the first sentence add ‘and modern evidence indicates that neither are binary’. At the end of the last sentence add ‘and formal recognition of non-binary status for data gathering purposes.’ Motion carried. Amendment to EQ 18 Respectful dialogue on gender/gender diversity in Congress notes 1, delete from ‘potentially … practices’, add after ‘have’; ‘the potential to significantly improve trans people’s lives’. in 3. insert ‘trans and other’ between ‘feminist’ and ‘scholars’. In Congress believes a. add after ‘equality’: ‘under the Equality Act 2010 and other legislation, and supports proposed changes to the 2004 GRA.’ in Congress believes c. delete ‘potential conflicts of’, insert ‘the’ before ‘rights’, and insert ‘of oppressed groups’ after ‘rights’. In ‘Congress calls on UCU to ii; add ‘and trans people’ after ‘academics’. In final sentence, add ‘underpinned by solidarity with all oppressed groups and promote unity in action of women and trans people in the face of attacks on either group.’ Motion carried. Amendment … continue reading

General Secretary election

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On Friday UCU announced the nominations process and timeline for [electing a new General Secretary] after Sally Hunt’s resignation. Nominations are open until 5pm on Monday 8 April 2019. Members and staff of UCU are eligible if they meet requirements and nomination guidance outlined [here]. Once nominations are confirmed, there will be an election by postal ballot which will run between 29 April – 23 May 2019. As with the recent UCU officer and NEC elections, the mechanism will be by Single Transferable Vote, meaning members can vote for more than one candidate in order of preference. The successful candidate will hold the position for 5 years.  This is an incredibly important election for the future of UCU. However, in previous years the turnout in elections for the role has been very low across the membership. We hope to address this democratic deficit at Leeds! It is our hope that every single member eligible to vote will return their ballot! As such, please let us know (ucu@leeds.ac.uk) what you would find useful in making your decision about who to vote for and in which order. We hope to organise a large hustings event at Leeds, and will seek permission from candidates to film this to widen access … continue reading

Congratulations to Vicky Blake!

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UCU University of Leeds branch president Vicky Blake has been elected as national vice-president of UCU. Vicky will take office as UCU vice-president on 27 May, then will automatically become president-elect the following year, and national president of UCU the year after. Congratulations to Vicky! More on the Union News website https://www.union-news.co.uk/ucu-elects-new-president/ Thanks you to everyone who voted in the UCU national officer and executive committee elections. It’s important that lots of members take part in all our elections so our elected executive committees reflect the concerns of UCU members here and across the country. The full election results are at: ucu.org.uk/article/9677/UCU-national-officer-and-national-executive-committee-elections-in-2018-19

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