UCU member
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the University and College Union (UCU) met on 15 November, its first full meeting since Labour came into government.
Before the general election, UCU’s general secretary Jo Grady enthused about the possibilities of partnership with a Labour government.
Starmer won the election with low votes, and as we warned in the Socialist, his intention is to rule in the interests of the bosses. Concessions can be won from this government but it will need a serious industrial strategy combined with militant politics to put on the pressure. Unfortunately, this approach has not been taken by the general secretary and the senior people in UCU’s leadership.
Further Education
The current leadership’s strategy, of asking Labour nicely without preparing for action, has failed our members. While schools were given £1.2 billion to fund a 5.5% pay increase (still not fully funded or enough for school teachers), colleges got nothing.
UCU’s Further Education Committee (FEC) narrowly voted to block a consultative ballot on the pay recommendation. This was following the union’s strategy of keeping disputes local on a college-by-college basis rather than stepping up for national action – “using local bargaining to secure our national priorities in every workplace”, as Jo Grady put it in her report to the NEC. Consequently, branches are now negotiating local deals, mostly at or below the employers’ Association of Colleges (AoC) recommendation of 2.5%.
A mere £300 million was announced in the Budget for FE, but this is legacy money from the Tories’ previous pledge! It is not ringfenced for pay and in fact the leaders of the AoC have warned that this £300 million will not be put towards this year’s pay claim, as per-student spending is squeezed by rising student numbers. This is not the “stunning victory for our New Deal for FE campaign” that Jo Grady calls it.
Higher Education
Universities, meanwhile, hardly had a mention in the Budget! This is “despite significant and prolonged conversations with Department for Education colleagues and elected ministers about how dire the situation is,” as Jo Grady reported. Departments are closing down and entire institutions are at risk, along with UCU members’ livelihoods and students’ degree courses. The proposed increase in fees is an outrageous attack on students, which doesn’t act even as a sticking plaster for the crisis in university funding, exacerbated by inflation and falling international student numbers. The market model is broken. Our union must begin a campaign for full public funding and abolition of tuition fees, linked to the fight for our Higher Education (HE) pay claim.
In response to the employers’ final offer of 2.5%, UCU members in HE are undertaking a consultative ballot on whether they are willing to take strike action. Socialist Party members in HE are campaigning for a ‘yes’ vote (see ‘UCU in universities: Vote ‘yes’ to fight on pay’ at socialistparty.org.uk). We have to fight to rebuild members’ confidence as, throughout our previous dispute, Grady and the team around her acted to undermine the action, including by undemocratically blocking decisions taken by the union’s HE Committee.
Socialist Party members in UCU are calling for a recall of the massively delayed FE and HE special sector conferences, so members can debate strategy. We are also, alongside others, calling for the general secretary to follow through on plans for an autumn demonstration of college staff – which should now include university staff given the crisis – which was agreed at the previous NEC but not acted on.
Repeal the Tory thresholds now
The general secretary welcomed Labour’s Employment Rights Bill, saying: “An end to exploitative zero-hour contracts and unscrupulous fire-and-rehire practices is long overdue, and protections from unfair dismissal”. However, these pledges were watered down in the bill and are now subject to consultation with bosses!
Labour’s pledge to repeal the Trade Union Act 2016 and the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act was welcomed by Grady. But there is no reason for these laws – which include the anti-strike 50% turnout thresholds – to remain on the statute books until next year or even later, a persisting obstacle to our members taking legal and effective strike action. These laws could be repealed in a matter of days via emergency legislation.
This was argued for in a motion submitted by Socialist Party member Duncan Moore, supported by other lefts on the NEC, alongside the demand for a recall of the Trades Union Congress, now that the full extent of Labour’s workers’ rights reforms are known. Unfortunately the motion was among many not heard, largely due to time-wasting from the chair and adjournments when the meeting became fractious.
Left challenge for NEC
This all demonstrates how important it is that there is a united fighting left challenge in the upcoming NEC elections. Socialist Party member Marco Tesei has secured enough nominations to stand for a national FE seat, and we want to urgently discuss with others who also want a fighting, democratic union to ensure we maximise the left vote.
