The leader of the University and College Union (UCU) has called on the government to conduct “an emergency review” of higher education funding in light of the “crisis” facing the sector.
Speaking at the union’s annual congress in Harrogate, general secretary Jo Grady said that universities are facing threats from the “catastrophic mismanagement of post-16 education”, job losses, and, more widely, through the rise of far-right politicians.
She told members that they “come together at a time like never before – industrially, politically, and internationally”, adding that “the world has rarely been more unequal and more uncertain”.
The annual meet-up comes with many union branches locked in local disputes with their institutions over job losses, and follows the news that employers have offered only a 2 per cent pay rise for next year – despite UCU pushing for up to 7 per cent.
Grady said that the union is fighting to end the sector redundancies, ban the use of “sham” subsidiary firms as a way out of offering sector pension schemes, end sector casualisation, and for a “much-needed review of governance”.
