Our union can and must be better.

Dear subscribers,

Today’s elections mailout is from Mark Pendleton (he/him) from the University of Sheffield, who is running for a UK-elected NEC seat. In this mailout, Mark sets out his reasons for running for re-election at a difficult time: in short, because we can and must build a better union.

You’ll find more information about all UCU Commons candidates on our website. We have also written an explainer of the role of NEC and the elected officers, how the voting system works, and why it is vitally important to vote in these elections. Please keep reading and sharing it!

The UCU national officer hustings were held on Wednesday 5th February, and the recording is now available online. We strongly recommend giving it a watch.

We are fast approaching the end of the voting period, so if you haven’t voted yet, don’t delay. The last day to order a replacement ballot is Monday 24th February. The last safe posting day (without adding a First Class stamp) is Tuesday 25th February. Ballots can still be posted until Thursday 27th February, but if you wait until then, make sure you attach a First Class stamp. The ballot closes at 5pm on Monday 3rd March.

Please keep voting, and keep telling your friends and colleagues to vote!

In solidarity,

UCU Commons

A better union, by Mark Pendleton

I am running for re-election to our union's national executive committee (NEC), somewhat against my better judgment and in the context of a difficult personal situation at work. Why?

You can read some of my reasons in my official statement but ultimately I decided to run because I fundamentally believe our union can and must be better.

As your elected leaders on the NEC, we are charged with making decisions about our union, but we've been doing a pretty terrible job of it recently, throwing members in at the proverbial deep end of industrial action without sufficient life rafts (or off ramps) time and time again (sorry for mixing metaphors there). No wonder many of you are switched off, or sometimes downright angry.

As a union leadership, we must be better at meeting what members expect of us; better at being open about the limitations and opportunities in post-16 education; better at negotiating with employers; better at making our case to government; better at deploying our union's resources to work for tangible change; better at understanding our points of industrial leverage; better at mobilising for action when necessary; better at knowing that there are times when we need to step back and recalibrate; better at understanding why members are disengaged, better at thinking creatively about industrial action; and better at, well, just being humble about the fact that as elected reps we don't have all the answers.

A more responsive, more engaged elected leadership might mean we can be better at listening and learning from you and your trade unionism, activism, lived experience and professional expertise. This might mean we get better at all of the above, too.

For me then, a better union means one not controlled by UCU Left and its allies, who have held a majority on our national committees in recent years. That majority has delivered nothing more than failed approaches to industrial strategy and an ever growing number of disillusioned members.

Some will dismiss this as factionalism, and to be honest I am not entirely comfortable as I write these words. In previous elections, and for many years outside of trade union election contexts, I have praised those involved in other groupings as committed trade unionists or activists who simply have a different perspective on a particular tactic or a strategy. I have no truck with redbaiting or other approaches that dismiss someone simply for their underlying politics or ideology, and have regularly organised within our union and outside with people of all sorts of political backgrounds. I will continue to do that.

But I also have to be honest. The main reason why our union has failed to come up with a single, effective plan to confront the crises we face is because of the current majorities on our committees, which are elected by tiny numbers of members. Those majorities have often worked to prevent others from presenting such plans for discussion or consideration, or even scheduling a meeting to discuss strategy. As a result, we have dithered (at best) or squandered leverage and funds, and as a result lost the support of many hardworking union members.

That has got to change if we are ever to be better as a union.

For those reasons, I strongly encourage you to support the UCU Commons voting recommendations.

We must be better, and one step towards doing so is to use your vote.

Thanks for reading UCU Commons Updates! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.