Bristol UCU Newsflash 9th October 2024 – New Branch Officers, UCU South West Black Members’ Network Launch, Bristol UCU General Meeting, Motion ‘To Oppose Tommy Robinson on 26th October’

1. New Branch Officers for 2024-25

We’re very fortunate to have several new Branch Officers on the team this year. 

Firstly, two Equalities Officers joined us in September, Afua Twum-Danso Imoh and Emilie Poletto-Lawson.  Afua will be focusing on racial equality. Previously Afua was the inaugural Chair of the BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) Staff Network at the University of Sheffield. She’s going to be working with colleagues and members to identify ways to embed racial equality better within UoB structures and policies.  Emilie Poletto-Lawson has been UCU rep for Education and Student Experience since October 2023 and has supported staff recently in the Student Wellbeing Service restructure.  She is looking forward to working with Afua on equalities issues and building on the work of Bristol UCU in this area.  Both Equalities Officers have already attended the first South West UCU Regional Equalities Conference, sharing views from the Bristol Branch and hearing of issues and good practice in our region.  If there are any equality discussions you would like to have, please contact Afua or Emilie via ucu-office@bristol.ac.uk. 

Oscar Berglund is now one of our Joint Vice Presidents.  He was UCU rep for Policy Studies for several years before joining the Branch Officer team. He’s involved in liaising with anti-genocide groups on campus. Coming out of a few years of intense national conflicts, he’s looking forward to working on how we can further improve pay and working conditions at Bristol over the next few years.

Gina Walteris the new PGR rep,currently in the last few months of a PhD in the English department (‘so you may see me looking haggard around the Arts complex!’) This is her second year as PGR rep, and she joined the Branch Officer team this summer. This year, Gina and co-PGR rep Max DeBono are committed to improving hourly paid teaching and demonstrating contracts, ensuring that tutors are given sufficient training and are allocated hours for marking and preparation that realistically reflect their workload. As part of this, they are running a surveyon experiences of hourly paid work at Bristol. Gina was previously PGR rep for the Arts Faculty, and successfully challenged contracts which allocated PGRs less marking time than full-time staff for the same work.

James Thompson has previously been Vice President and President of Bristol UCU.  Now he’s back as our Green Rep.  He’s going to be working with Unite, Unison and students towards a Green New Deal at Bristol.

They’ll be at the General Meeting (GM) on Wednesday 16th October, so come along and meet them.  Details below.

2. UCU South West Black Members’ Network Launch. 16th October 2024, 10:00 – 12:00 on Teams

Any members who identify as Black are invited to the launch of UCU SW Black Members’ Network.  The meeting is scheduled to take place between 10.00am and 12noon but may finish earlier.

The Teams link details are below:
Join the meeting now [LINK]
Meeting ID: 365 655 861 633
Passcode: wdeLWj

Dial in by phone
+44 20 7660 8281,167376632# London
Phone conference ID: 167 376 632#

3. Bristol UCU General Meeting, Wednesday 16th October 13:00 – 14:00 on Teams

This is our first GM of the new academic year.  All members welcome! 

Agenda:

Please join the meeting here [LINK].

Meeting ID: 359 070 751 926

Passcode: V4kZA4

4. Motion to ‘Oppose Tommy Robinson on 26th October 2024’

Members have submitted a motion to be debated at our first General Meeting (GM) on Wednesday 16th October 2024 13:00 – 14:00 on Teams.

Amendments to the motion will be accepted. Please note: amendments must be sent, with a proposer and seconder, to the Branch Secretary by 17:00, Friday, 11th October at ucu-office@bristol.ac.uk.  Amendments will be ruled in or out of order at the discretion of Bristol UCU Branch Officers on objective grounds, for example, on the grounds of unnecessary duplication (already covered by other amendments) or because the amendment is a proposal to change the wording of the motion so that it is made useless, contradictory or unworkable.

If members wish to speak at the General Meeting (GM), for or against the motion, please email ucu-office@bristol.ac.uk by 13:00, Monday, 14th October. This is to ensure a balanced debate.

Motion to ‘Oppose Tommy Robinson on 26th October 2024’.

This branch notes:

1. Stephen Yaxley-Lennon aka Tommy Robinson has called a demonstration at Downing Street on 26 October. Stand Up to Racism has called a counter-demonstration, this was announced at the Trade Union Congress.
2. Robinson’s last London demonstration on 27 July attracted over 20,000 people.
3. The breakthrough of racist Reform UK in the British general election where Nigel Farage and another 4 far right MPs entered parliament for the first time.
4. The recent successes of fascist parties across Europe with fascist party Alternative fur Deutschland coming first in the recent state election in Thuringia and second in Saxony and the general election success of the Freedom Party in Austria.

This branch believes:

1. The week following Tommy Robinson’s last demonstration we saw the outbreak of racist riots in Southport that spread across much of the country and saw attacks on mosques, asylum seeker accommodation and on black people on the street.
2. Tommy Robinson was at the centre of the online misinformation that fuelled this outbreak of racist violence. He is a dangerous figure attempting to build a violent fascist street movement.
3. Anti-racists up and down the country came out bravely in their thousands on 7 and 10 August to push back the immediate threat in Bristol, Walthamstow, Brighton, Liverpool and many other places.
4. We cannot afford to be complacent. The far right and fascist forces in this country are looking to continue to grow. The trade union movement needs to mobilise up and down the country to get to London on 26 October to Stop Tommy Robinson.
5. We live in a dangerous time where the far right are close to or already in power across Europe and the US.
6. We can stop the slide to the far right in Britain if we commit to antiracist and antifascist struggle. This starts with resolving to outnumber Tommy Robinson’s demo on 26 October.

This branch resolves to:

1. Take our union banner and a large delegation to the counter-demonstration.
2. Urge other branches in the region to mobilise as well.
3. Donate £200 towards cost of transport.

Proposed by: James Cussens.

Seconded by: Nariman Massoumi.