Marian Hersh (Glasgow University)
I am passionate about higher education and have a long history of activism, both within and outside UCU/AUT.
In standing for the NEC as part of UCU Left, I give all members a commitment that I will:
- Work very hard on your behalf
- Engage with and listen to you
- Use my knowledge, experience, energy and enthusiasm to work to significantly improve your pay and conditions, for an improved and better funded HE system and for a union which actively engages in other struggles and puts equality issues at the centre of its activities.
I am standing for a union that will:
- actively engage all its members and looks at new and creative ways of overcoming the barriers to the involvement of members, particularly women and disabled members.
- be actively involved in campaigns against war, for the rights of refugees and actively engaged in solidarity
with workers’ and other struggles both nationally and internationally. - put equal opportunity issues at the centre of its work, both as they are vitally important in themselves and because fighting for the rights of women and minority groups benefits all workers.
- start building now for concerted (industrial) action when the current agreement ends and commits to continuing this action until a ballot of the membership votes for it to end.
- be proactive and much more dynamic and assertive in fighting for the rights of all members – against downgrading of librarians and other academic related, against excessive workloads and stress, against open plan offices …
- upgrade the hourly paid campaign and the campaign to bring all short term contract staff onto permanent contracts.
- engage with the wider community, including students, to defend and improve higher education – remove all fees, for cost of living grants, high wages and permanent contracts for all staff, increased subject diversity, increased staff numbers, low staff student ratio and widening access.
- campaign for a doubling of government funding to higher education to be financed by getting rid of trident and getting out of Iraq.
- carry through hard-hitting campaigns against department closures, subject losses and reductions in staff numbers.
- campaign to change the culture of institutions to recognise the value of diversity and the contribution made by all staff and to abolish institutional discrimination and the culture of blame.
- campaign for institutions where Muslem students who wear the veil can study together with Jewish students wearing ritual fringes and hair locks and all voices are listened to.
- step up campaigns against bullying and harassment and stress.
- recognise that, like the rest of society the union itself is affected by prejudice and challenges this without ascribing blame so that all minority group members can participate fully and be properly represented.
UCU involvement at national and branch level:
- National Women’s Committee 1998-2002, 2003-5
- Convenor of Women’s Committee and Co-Editor of Equalise 2000-2002
- Non-voting women’s representative on NEC 2000-2
- Women’s representative on Glasgow Committee
- AUT & Proud
- Council delegate most years since 1998
- Transitional Equality Committee
- TUC Women’s Conference 2000
- STUC Women’s Conference 1988, 1999
- TUC LGB(T) Conference 1998, 2005
- STUC GLBT Workers’ Forum
- STUC Action Research Project on involving women and LGBT members in union activities
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