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.

Friday, 9 February 2007

Wednesday 7th February

“Delivering Equality, Promotion, salary, contract and seniority should be based on ability not gender, age, race or anything else. This is an issue for everyone and UCU must do better at explaining its importance to members in terms that are inclusive rather than excluding”

Sally Hunt – election manifesto GS election.

Equality is central to the mission of our new union. Equality in post 16 education is characterised by smoke and mirrors. We as a union must ensure equality is not a bolt on extra but integral to all parts of our work.

I am sure Sally is personally committed to challenging discrimination and promoting equality. But as the sole manifesto comment, it falls a bit short of what is needed for three reasons.

Firstly equality is not just about “promotion, salary, contract and seniority”. It is also centrally about treatment and working environment. No mention of the elements of discrimination should exclude harassment, bullying, and a general culture whereby the contribution of women, black and minority ethnic staff, LGBT staff, and disabled staff in particular is undermined and marginalised by institutions and individuals,

Secondly I am unclear what “or anything else” means in this context. Either all the strands of discrimination should be mentioned or none. To list some and exclude others notably disability and sexual orientation is unusual to put it mildly. What does “anything else” mean? If an employer put this on their web site we’d query it.

Thirdly, much discrimination is not “direct” but indirect and hidden. For example, placing large numbers of staff on fixed term and casual contracts with poor pay, terms and conditions and prospects is discriminatory since such staff are very often disproportionately female or from ethnic minorities. That is why all aspects of our work must be “equality proofed”. Doing so is good for all members, not just those immediately affected.

As UCU Head of Equality and Employment rights I am fortunate to have inherited a tremendous body of experience and achievement led by Kate Heasman in the UCU Equality Unit. The work we are currently undertaking centrally around the new statutory duties of race, gender and equality will I believe be second to none in its scope and determination to follow through. You can read about the headline element of the new programme of work at http://www.ucu.org.uk/circ/html/ucu7.html
http://www.ucu.org.uk/circ/rtf/ucu7.rtf

We are also about to launch a major programme of work around sexual orientation discrimination where the law is less useful but where the sector has an appalling record.
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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.