UCU REGIONS
Prior to the merger of AUT and NATFHE to form UCU the regional structures which existed in NATFHE played a major organisational and political role in lay member representation and influence in the union. The potential abolition of regions in the new union was a source of considerable concern among many activists and it took some time before those negotiating the new structures and rules could agree that regional structures would be a necessary part of UCU's democracy.
One complicating factor with the new regional structures is that the regions for electoral purposes (i.e. for the election of NEC representatives) are much larger than the regions for branch representation and meeting purposes. In fact the latter are very similar to the old NATFHE regional boundaries.
In NATFHE, regional delegates from branches had been elected on a pro rata basis and met five or six times a year. They elected delegates to various bodies within the union as well as to the regional TUC and other outside bodies. Branch reports were received at each meeting (which were partly organised on a sectoral basis) and at their best regions would function as coordinating bodies for mobilisations and industrial action.
They also considered motions from branches for annual conference and for sector committee meetings and delegates to conference were elected from regions rather than branches. This is obviously a major difference to the new situation in UCU where delegates and motions will come from branches, which many would argue is in principle far more democratic.
There's no doubt that it was largely the regions and regional activists, together with a politically progressive leadership around Paul Mackney, which ensured that in recent years NATFHE gained a justified reputation as the most politically progressive union in the UK, one which also took the most strike days in one or two years (which given the size of the union illustrates the low level of strike action generally in recent years).
Both AUT and NATFHE have seen extended industrial action in recent times, sometimes successful, sometimes less so, against unprecedented assaults on both HE and FE in the name of neoliberal market madness.
There's no doubt that sections of the ex-AUT bureaucracy in particular have viewed the setting up of UCU regions with suspicion and have manoeuvred to put the organisational roles in 'safe' hands in order to maximise their influence and minimise lay member control. Luckily in most regions this has been fairly unsuccessful.
We in UCU Left should aim to play a full part in making regions the influential and democratic forums that they could be. They can operate to share information and build a picture of what is happening in terms of industrial relations: they can be opportunities to debate and discuss wider issues which affect us such as educational policy, funding priorities and general social policies: they can be crucial in building up networks of local activists who can act to mobilise members when the need arises. That may be in support of official industrial action or sometimes where branches and associations take unofficial action when an urgent response is needed.
UCU Left supporters need to ensure that our branches and associations are actively represented at regional meetings and that the meetings themselves are lively and informative. Currently there is debate about the best time to hold the meetings - we need to make sure that they are held at times when the maximum number of members can participate on a regular basis and not be excluded because of childcare issues or because of different working patterns in HE and FE.
As an organisation of lay activists UCU Left supporters need to seize the current opportunities to create regions which are genuinely lay member-led as a counterweight to top-down officialdom. We need to remind our officials, in the best traditions of rank and file organisation, that we are the union and that as ordinary members we can work out what is in our best interests - and that regions have a crucial role to play in that.