Jointly with Newcastle, our Branch has won the Northern TUC award for Organiser of the Year.
The presentation by the TUC President, Ged Nicholls, will be at the annual Northern TUC Conference in Newcastle on March 28.
Here is our nomination statement:
This has been a momentous few months for UCU. At the time of writing UCU members at Newcastle and Durham Universities are part way through a 14 day strike on pensions, pay, anti-casualization and equality. This follows an 8 day strike in December on the same issues. The union has never asked its members for such a determined response in the past but the members have responded to the call.
But such a response doesn’t come without organisation- to get the vote out and beat the Tory anti-union laws, to get the members out , organise picket lines and make going on strike “fun”. The UCU branches at Durham and Newcastle have achieved this and resulted in a significant increase in membership – largely of new, younger staff in their first job.
So UCU would like to nominate Andrew Fletcher (President Newcastle University UCU) and Sarah Elton (President Durham University UCU) jointly for the award of organiser of the year but on the basis that it is an award to their branches and the teams of reps and activists who have made the action possible.
Well done everyone!