A message from Roger

The UCU general secretary ballot result has now been declared and Sally Hunt has been elected. The union and our members face major and difficult challenges from employers and government in almost every aspect of our working lives. The turnout was just 13.9 per cent which in itself suggests the scale of the challenge the union faces. I wish Sally Hunt very well in meeting those challenges. To meet them successfully will require a clear strategic vision and a determined articulate response which members can have confidence in and ownership of. I will seek to play my part in ensuring that is the case through my continuing role as Head of Equality and Employment Rights Finally I would like to sincerely thank the hundreds of members who sent messages of support and campaigned during the election.

Monday, 19 February 2007

Friday 16th February

Rammell and I

“The government keeps telling immigrants to learn English but won't pay for it”
The Economist 15th February 2007.
The campaign to reverse the Governments foolish policy on radically cutting access to ESOL courses gathers pace.
Our latest ally comes in the slightly surprising shape of the Economist magazine which sharply criticises Government policy. You can find the article at http://www.economist.com/world/britain/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8706483
Meanwhile support grows rapidly for the lobby of parliament on 28 February which will urge MPs to press the government to rethink plans to restrict access to courses in ESOL (English for speakers of other languages). The public debate is hotting up, too, after the government announced plans to cut the benefits of unemployed people who need language training but are not registering for courses.

I condemned the government plans as hypocrisy, as access to ESOL courses is being made more difficult: http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=2028

Coaches for the lobby are coming from several locations around the country which all UCU members are welcome to join. More details at www.ucu.org.uk .Please sign the petition we have launched and invite all your students and colleagues (whether UCU members or not) to do the same. You can sign the petition online or download a form to collect signatures yourself at:http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=2014
You may also wish to note that I wrote an extended article summarising our case in The Guardian at: http://education.guardian.co.uk/tefl/comment/story/0,,1986359,00.html

Finally, there will be a Radio 4 debate between Bill Rammell, Roger Kline and ESOL lecturer Beatrice Jackson on ESOL provision in next week's Radio 4 Learning Curve on Monday 19th February at 20:30 - 21:00 and the programme will be repeated on Sunday 25th February at 23:00 - 23:30.
If you miss the programme you can hear it on on-line at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/learningcurve.shtml
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A trade unionist all his working life. An activist and a proud campaigner, Roger has consistently worked to defend human rights of workers. As the leader of the Equality and Employment Rights team in the newly formed UCU he continues to unite the movement around equality and keep employment rights at the top of the agenda.