No cops on campus

Posted on by
Reply

The University and College Union Glasgow (UCUG) is gravely concerned at the response of the university’s governing bodies to peaceful student protests relating to divestment and the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

The way to deal with a student occupation and hunger strike should be to engage immediately with the students whose health and wellbeing is in danger, not to refuse to call an emergency meeting of Court to discuss student demands, nor indeed to invite police on campus for three days in a row to intimidate protesters.

We in UCUG have been clear that we wish to see divestment from the arms industry and a just peace in Palestine. We will also continue to vocally oppose the global crackdown on basic human rights and civil liberties on staff and students involved in the divestment and pro-Palestinian movements, especially when it happens on our campus.

We call once again on the senior management group and members of Court to examine their conscience and change course.

General Meeting

Reply

This will be a hybrid meeting. You can email ucug@glasgow.ac.uk for the online joining details, or join in person at the Sir Charles Wilson Building, Room 101B.

At 5pm, after the meeting, there will be a social at DRAM on Woodlands Road, open to all members.

Solidarity with Professor Joseph Daher 

Posted on by
Reply

UCU Glasgow stands in solidarity with Professor Joseph Daher who has been denied a renewal of his contract as a visiting professor at the University of Lausanne (UNIL) despite his course being scheduled for the next term and his supervision of Master’s students.

Prof Daher has been subject to a smear campaign from French- and German-speaking Swiss press in connection with his defence of fundamental human rights and his commitment to supporting the demands of UNIL students mobilized around the Palestinian cause. UNIL has chosen to act punitively instead of affirming their stance for freedom of academic expression.

As Prof Daher notes “The arbitrary measures against me by the UNIL management are indeed part of a more general political context of pressure, repression and criminalization against academics and individuals engaged in solidarity with the Palestinian cause and with the defence of the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people.”

This repression has been noted in our own academic institutions where we have witnessed a surge in reports at Higher Education institutions across the UK of threats of disciplinary action against student activists and shutdown of student societies involved in the pro-Palestinian movement.

This has included recent actions at the University of Glasgow where students were banned from campus for participation in protest – now revoked – and the unlawful dismissal of staff as we have seen in the landmark case of Professor David Miller at the University of Bristol.

We ask our members and all those in academia to stand against these tactics of intimidation and sign this petition calling for Prof Daher’s immediate reinstatement.

 

Solidarity letter with student protesters

Posted on by
Reply
Today, UCU Glasgow sent the following letter to the Principal at the University of Glasgow.
Dear Principal and Deputy Vice-Chancellor,
We are writing to voice our support for peaceful protests in solidarity with Palestine at the University of Glasgow, whose Senior Management and Court has chosen to set itself up in opposition to the clear, longstanding will of its students and staff by choosing to continue to invest in and profit from the arms trade.
Such deliberate acts by the governing body of the university will inevitably inflame tensions at such a difficult time.
We therefore wish to convey our deep concern regarding the punitive interim measures taken against students recently engaged in protest actions on campus (by banning them from campus, interfering with their ability to study). We urge that you revoke them and refrain from further disciplinary action against students engaged in peaceful protest on campus.
We note the actions at Glasgow take place during a surge in reports at Higher Education institutions across the UK of threats of disciplinary action, shutdown of student societies, and expulsion of students involved in the pro-Palestinian movement.
We are deeply troubled by such measures against students both at Glasgow and across the sector which amount to an attack on the right to freedom of speech.
Universities are based on values of freedom of expression and sites of political debate and, as such, should be facilitating rather than restricting the right to protest. Such attacks come at a moment when we celebrate the ceasefire in Gaza. However, a ceasefire cannot undo the immense losses suffered nor the continuing occupation and ongoing threats to Palestinian land and people. We will continue to support  protests to end the complicity of the University of Glasgow in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
UCU Glasgow Committee

UCU elections 2025

Posted on by
Reply

More info here: https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/13734/UCU-UK-elections-2024-25

UCU has a national executive committee, elected by the union’s members. Elections take place annually. Ballots to elect Trustees, Officers and National Executive Committee members open 27 January 2025. These elections include the post of UCU Scotland President and UCU Scotland Secretary.

A list of candidates is available here: https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/13734/UCU-UK-elections-2024-25

You can watch the hustings which took place on 5 March 2025:

https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/13899/UCU-election-hustings-2025

If you have not received a ballot paper yet, you can request a new one by clicking here. You might not have received your ballot if you moved recently and have not updated UCU of the change in your postal address. If this is the case, please amend your membership record online (you will have to register if you haven’t used myUCU in the past) or by emailing your new address to ucug@glasgow.ac.uk.

The UCU Glasgow inbox has received various election communication from candidates, all of which are copied below. Please note that these are NOT ENDORSEMENTS, just a collation of materials we have received. UCU Glasgow does not endorse candidates in internal elections.

If you are a candidate and would like for your materials to be displayed here, please email ucug@glasgow.ac.uk.

 

Vice President (Higher Education) – Rhiannon Lockley

Dear UCU member,
Solidarity to you and to your UCU branch.
I am  getting in touch because I’m standing for election to Vice President of UCU. I want to let you know about my campaign, and ask you for your vote. This is a postal election, and ballot papers will be arriving shortly.
I know UCU members are very busy. Workload is growing, there are threats to our working conditions, and we face cuts across the university sector on a new and frightening scale. Thank you for what you give to UCU, whether that is attending meetings to give your views, taking part in votes, supporting members with casework or giving your time as a rep or committee member. I know how busy our branch team at BCU are and I am sure your branch is too.
Voting in UCU elections is central to facing the problems hitting our sector. I believe trade unions work best with unity and mutual respect, which come from understanding and following the principles of union democracy. 
 
As UCU members we all care about the problems we and our colleagues face, and we can all offer something together to tackle these. We don’t always agree, but we can support each other in making and acting on collective decisions to take on the challenges we face together.
 
The Vice President/President plays a central role in how members work with each other, acting as Chair of the HE sector and then the Union. As a very experienced UCU Chair I would use the skills I have developed over time in UCU to get business heard, to make sure all members are included and welcomed, and to facilitate democratic decision-making by members. 
You can find out more about my campaign, including endorsements from members across our regions, nations and sectors, as well as colleagues from other unions, here: Rhiannon Lockley UCU VP election site
Vote Rhiannon Lockley (she/her) for UCU Vice President (Higher Education): ballots are live 27th January till 3rd March 2025
rhiannonforucuvp.wordpress.com
Please do consider voting for me and for Deepa Govindarajan Driver for Honorary Treasurer. I have put together a list of candidates I support who are standing in the 2025 elections here:  List of candidates I support in the 2025 UCU elections . They are not all members I always agree with in terms of tactics, but they are all committed to upholding the democracy of UCU: this is vital for us to function as a union able to take on the challenges we face.
Thank you again for supporting UCU and for taking the time to hear from candidates. Whoever you vote for, please do vote.

 

Trustee – Mike Barton

The UCU elections for the Vice President, Honorary Treasurer, Trustees and the National Executive Committee have opened and members are now receiving ballot papers.

I am standing for election for the position of trustee, and I would appreciate it if you would circulate my election material to all of your members for their consideration: https://bit.ly/MikeBarton4UCUTrustee.

This is in line with UCU’s policy to encourage the circulation of information about all candidates standing in elections.

In addition to circulating my election material, I would very much welcome the endorsement by your branch or region of my candidacy if you feel you are able to do so.

In solidarity,

Mike Barton

mikejbarton@gmail.com

UCU Scotland President – Grant Buttars

https://grantbuttarsucu.wordpress.com/2024/12/04/election-address-2025/ 

I am standing for the role of UCU Scotland President.  At present, I am UCU Scotland Vice President and this is my third term on UCU Scotland Executive, having also served 2 terms as an ordinary-elected member. I also chair UCU Scotland Education Committee.

I am also separately elected to NEC, sitting on HEC and Education Committee, and previously on ROCC. I also sit on Academic Related Professional Staff (ARPS) Committee.  I have worked as an archivist at the University of Edinburgh since 2001. Between 2018 and 2023, I was Branch President at Edinburgh, where I have also served as Communications Officer and as an Ordinary Committee member.  I am currently branch ARPS rep.  I bring knowledge and expertise of all levels of union work to the role of President.

It is incumbent on anybody holding elected office within the union to represent members and to hold power to account on behalf of members.  The power we hold as elected representatives is loaned to us by our members and is exercised on their behalf. If we see the union not functioning as it should, we must not be silent.

Anybody in elected office has the responsibility, when acting in that capacity, to represent the policy of the union and not engage in activity contrary to such policy.  That is not to say we are merely empty vessels with no opinions of our own and that dissent should be avoided.  I am an unapologetic socialist and these are my guiding principles. In appropriate fora I will argue and advocate from that position.  However, when representing our union as Scotland President, I will always put democratically agreed union policy first.

In the current crisis, with challenges around cuts and redundancies affecting every branch directly or indirectly, it is more important than ever that we fight back together, building solidarity with our fellow campus unions and our students.   Our strength comes from our numbers as a collective.  Atomised fights only benefit the bosses.

A trade union must be an exemplary employer and nurture within itself the same values and principles we demand of employers, government and others.  The ongoing disputes between UCU and its staff cast a very dark shadow upon all of us.  UCU staff are workers just like us and I reiterate my solidarity with them.  These disputes must be resolved satisfactorily without delay and likewise the one with Black Members Standing Committee with which they are entwined.  A union cannot properly fight for equality for its members with this issue unresolved.

 

UCU Scotland Secretary – Carlo Morelli 

https://uculeft.org/carlo-morelli-2/ 

Dundee University is at the centre of the storm over the funding of higher education
in Scotland. We have just successfully balloted for industrial action to save hundreds
of jobs due to a projected £30m deficit. As a member of the University at Dundee
and current Honorary Secretary for UCU Scotland I understand the need to ensure
branches fight redundancies and cuts but also ensure UCU Scotland gives its full
backing to branches resisting cuts.

Save Higher Education

Half of UK universities are cutting jobs. This includes many in Scotland. The
existence of the sector is under threat. Marketisation in Scotland is driven by
managements who share the group think of forcing debt via maintenance loans for
home students and exploiting international and rUK students’ tuition fees.
Simultaneously, the racist ‘hostile environment’ consciously used racism to
undermine the University sector.
Attempts to leave branches to fight these cuts institution by institution weakens us.
We need a UK-wide and Scottish-wide campaign to save HE, against job cuts and
end the racist environment. Unity is our strength. Unity can build a campaign to drive
the market out of education.
As Honorary Secretary for UCU Scotland I made the case for a lobby of the Scottish
Government and encouraging branches to ballot for industrial action when facing job
cuts.

Stand Up To Racism

Trump, Farage and the rise of fascism in Europe means we must place anti-racism
central to our union and workplaces. Racism is designed to scapegoat minorities and
divert attention from where the problems in our society originate. No immigrant is
illegal, and universities should stop policing immigration through draconian
monitoring and reporting on students and staff. I have been a supporter of the Sheku
Bayoh campaign since the start and stand up for students facing racism Blind
student facing deportation says university reneged on support | University of Dundee – The Guardian

USS and pensions

I was a USS negotiator during the 2018-19 strike. Five years of strike action shows
we can win. I am currently leading the campaign in the USS Advisory Cttee to
ensure cohabiting relationships are recognised for automatic survivor pensions. As
an NEC member I will continue to focus attention on threats to the Scottish TPS and
USS. I support our union’s policy on decarbonising and decolonising our pension
schemes.

Equality

Equality continues to be under attack. I am committed to ensuring equality remains
central to UCU Scotland. I will always support members standing up for trans-rights,
facing threats of internal complaints or employment tribunals.
I am a strong ally of my transrights and all LGBT+ siblings. I don’t believe we are
stuck as human beings by our DNA and hold strongly to the analysis of the social
model arising out of the disability movement, that it is society that creates structures
for disadvantage and oppression not our biology.

Palestine and Academic Boycott

I welcome the ceasefire in Gaza, hope it holds but fear for the lives of Palestinians
and others in the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria. Israel is an apartheid state and
universities in Scotland are legally complicit in genocide in Gaza, via their
investments and engagement with Israeli Universities. The IHRA definition facilitates
the clamp down on student protest and pro-Palestinian voices. It hinders rather than
supports the campaign against antisemitism due to its false conflation of antizionism
with antisemitism. UCU Scotland should continue its work on identifying with and
solidarity with Higher Education in Palestine. We can all play our part by individually
refusing to the Academic Boycott of Israeli Universities.

Trade union service

  • Chair of USS Advisory Committee: past USS negotiator on USS JNC.
  • UCU Scotland Honorary Secretary NEC member: previously UCU Scotland
  • President & UK-wide elected member for 6 years.
  • Member of Dundee UCU Committee for over 20 years & past president
  • Delegate to UCU Congress, STUC and TUC
  • Member of UCU Left and Stand Up To Racism
  • Senior Lecturer in Economics, Dundee University

UCU Scotland Green Network Meeting

Reply

The next Green Network meeting is an opportunity to share experiences, find out about what is happening in other branches, and get tips for successful campaigning on green issues, as well as learning more about them. All UCU members in Scotland welcome, whether or not you are experienced in this area.  You are also very welcome if you are only able to attend for part of the time. Contact UCU Scotland office for the Zoom details and if you have any questions. Branches are also encouraged to complete this survey on Green issues, devised by the UCU Scotland Green Officer and network: https://forms.office.com/e/aVwnVX88an