This summer is not an all-out election for department reps (who serve a two year term (unless they are elected in a by-election part way through it), but there will automatically by a by-election to fill any vacancies.

Check the department reps list to see if there are unfilled roles in your area: is there a department rep, a department anti-casualisation rep, a department postgraduate rep, a department equality rep and a department health and safety rep? (Email ucu@leeds.ac.uk if you have questions about what the department area is for you for this election if that’s unclear, or about whether all those roles would be available, particularly for smaller departments.)

The deadline for nominations for those by-elections is 12pm Thursday 8 June (a couple of weeks after the AGM). I appreciate it is a bit early to remind you about this but it probably makes sense to think about it alongside thinking about who you want to nominate to be on the committee.

You can find out more about the department rep roles at choosing your UCU department representatives

I would strongly encourage all UCU members to think about which of your colleagues might be good UCU reps, either on the branch committee or for your department (including UCU department postgraduate reps, anti-casualisation reps, equality reps, workload reps and health and safety reps). In doing so I’d encourage you to challenge any stereotype you have of what union reps are like, be conscious that white and male union members are more likely to put themselves forward, and bear in mind that while someone who is more vocal at raising problems might be a good rep, it might also be that they are already in a relatively more privileged situation so feel more able to complain without consequence. In my view a good union rep will often be someone that colleagues have confidence in, whose judgement they trust, and who is a good listener.

Alan Smith, branch administrator/organiser

Remember, nominations are also open for the branch committee elections, until 17 May.