We will share more endorsements each week through the campaign
Sam Marsh, Sheffield UCU Senior Vice President, Previous USS Negotiator
Vicky has been an outstanding servant of UCU for many years, and is the outstanding candidate for General Secretary. What this union need more than anything is a General Secretary who respects the NEC and an NEC that respects the General Secretary. Vicky’s ability to reach out to all parts of our membership mean she is already widely respected across the union. Never one to follow self-interest, when she says she will respect the democratic structures she means it, and has the track-record to prove it. I was lucky enough to work closely with Vicky when she was chair of UCU’s USS negotiating team. Those negotiations were incredibly challenging, yet she kept our team together and on-track with immense fortitude and patience, never wavering from what members had tasked us with, and setting a path that led to us securing a historic victory. If you are looking for a candidate who will work tirelessly for you, who believes the means are as important as the ends, and who is genuinely independent of factional allegiance, then you need look no further.
Sarah Joss, Heriot-Watt UCU Branch President and USS pensions alternate negotiator
Vicky is an excellent voice for the members of UCU.
Through years of experience, she understands the union and its structures well enough to create policy that will work. Where UCU could work better for members she will bring much needed improvements. And because she knows the unions strengths she will ensure that any action we do take is implemented well, with proper support and winning for members always the driving force. She will be a General Secretary who puts the members first, always, and will use the role of GS to promote the interests of UCU members.
Vote for Vicky because it’s what UCU deserves and what you deserve – a GS who works for you.
Millie Wild – Hackney Adult and Community Education and New City College Hackney
I worked with Vicky Blake when I joined the Anti Casualisation Committee. Vicky combines being a very kind and compassionate person with a fierce determination to challenge injustice. Vicky has a rigorous understanding of how casualisation affects UCU members in all sectors and in my time on the committee she was supportive of people’s creative ideas and always encouraging as we tried different approaches to fight it. She always treated FE and ACE issues, where I work, as equal to HE issues. She is deeply committed to union democracy and rank and file approaches and listens to everybody. I am very happy to endorse her campaign for General Secretary.
Robyn Orfitelli, Sheffield UCU Branch President, former New JNCHES negotiator
Vicky was possibly the first activist I met from another branch of UCU, and our first interaction was her generously offering her time to help me, a nervous first time delegate to an upcoming SHESC, improve a motion via amendment, and then prepare the moving speech. This is emblematic of Vicky’s approach to collective organising. She would be the General Secretary who always asks “What can I do to help this union succeed?” and never “What can this union do to help me succeed?” Vicky takes collective organising very seriously, and when she says she will put in the work to try to bring people together, she has a proven track record of doing just that.
I was extremely fortunate that during part of the three years I served on the New JNCHES (pay and conditions) negotiation team, Vicky was the chair. During this time period we spent months in intensive dispute negotiations with the employer, and the team worked seamlessly despite being from very different political and factional parts of UCU, constantly communicating with members to ensure we were representing them effectively in the negotiating room.
Vicky is the GS candidate who best combines a stellar work ethic with a real dedication to all members of UCU, and concrete plans for improving our organising and industrial strategy. I’m so pleased to give her my vote and help her campaign.
Ben Plumpton, past President Leeds UCU, retired member
I have a lot of experience of working with Vicky, on the Leeds UCU branch committee for many years, and I can tell you she is an incredibly hard worker and utterly committed to the union and its members. I have seen her working on an individual level (securing good results in casework), at a branch level (getting a diverse bunch on the branch committee to work together effectively) and at a university level (negotiating strongly with a particularly intransigent management). Vicky has stood on picket lines in fair weather and foul, in Leeds and all over the UK – she is always stalwart in support of members taking action and she is inspirational. And at a national level in the union, I’ve watched Vicky (with awe, mostly from afar) patiently chairing difficult meetings and always trying to work beyond the factions, finding sensible strategic ways forward. I know that Vicky doesn’t want to be UCU General Secretary for the glory of it, or to push a particular political viewpoint – she wants to strengthen the union, work with members and branches, and make us a force employers will have to reckon with.
Vicky is genuine, fair, thorough and very capable. Please vote for her!
Kyran Joughin, UAL-UCU Branch Sec. 2011-22, London Region REC, current member of NEC, London and the East
Vicky is my point of hope. For members like me who’ve worked and organised in the post-92 sector (UAL), the last few years have been incredibly tough. We feel bruised, morale is low.
Vicky is the one person who can restore my faith in our union and in our collective strength. I’ve admired her work for years and also witnessed that close-up in my two years on NEC. I know that she is standing now to do the work that needs to be done, to make our union a force that has to be reckoned with, and one that inspires. She _has_ vision, in terms of insight, clarity and aims: the most knowledgeable, committed and wise union colleague I’ve known- and I’ve been here for a long time.
Elaine White, Branch Chair Bradford College UCU
I first met Vicky Blake about 10 years ago. This was through the Anti-Casualisation annual meetings, when she was chairing and I was newly coming to UCU national events. As a person from further education in UCU, FE can feel like the forgotten sector. But I felt Vicky always made time to make sure issues from FE and adult community education did get the time and space despite the time pressures.
Vicky is independent of thought and yet acts whole heartedly in collaboration with others from other experiences and political persuasions. Her tough side comes out when standing up for matters of principle. She has never forgotten what it’s like to be on casual contracts and I trust she never will.
She led the way in terms of media campaigns to grab attention to the level of casualisation in
universities. This allowed my branch in further education to make the positive progress and end the worst abuses of precarious contracts. We are all connected. We are one union. Vicky understands this and this is why I am delighted to endorse Vicky Blake for General Secretary.
Claire Osborn, Former Branch Chair, UCU Telford College
I have known Vicky since her time as Vice President and she has always demonstrated a commitment to understanding the unique and often attritional issues FE has faced as well as she understands her own sector. Over that time, she supported me as Branch Chair until I left the sector in 2022, to support my members, by offering both solidarity and expertise on a number of collective issues.
Vicky has a proven track record of organising, and winning victories through many levels of the union. Alongside this she has demonstrably respected the democratic structures of UCU. Vicky has the experience, credibility and integrity that are necessary characteristics for the next General Secretary in order to prioritise both sustained improvements in terms and conditions across ALL sectors represented, and rebuild trust and confidence.
Vicky is the principled, competent candidate that UCU needs.
Dr Lena Wånggren, University of Edinburgh, UCU Scotland Immediate Past President
I’ve always been impressed by Vicky’s dedication to UCU, to union democracy and transparency, and to working for unity despite differences. She has been at the centre of UCU’s anti-casualisation work, and there are few people I trust more than Vicky to understand and organise around job security and its associated problems.
She is dedicated, strategic, incredibly experienced, and works tirelessly for members
Dr Sol Gamsu, Durham University, Durham UCU
Vicky has a strong commitment to education, organising democratically and building our union from the bottom up. I have known her both as a union organiser and through her work in widening participation and I know she is committed to an education system which is equal and emancipatory for students and staff alike. As an organiser she is transparent, principled and she knows the workings of ucu inside out both at branch level and nationally. Her role in the 2018-19 Democracy Commission and her analyses of our recent disputes demonstrate her desire to build a union that fights and wins while bringing all members together. I believe Vicky would be an excellent candidate under any circumstances but especially now and I strongly endorse her to be our next General Secretary.
Caleb Day, PhD Researcher Durham University, Anti-casualisation officer, Durham UCU
Vicky Blake has been a consistent champion for UK postgraduate researchers (PGRs) and casualised HE/FE staff from when she joined UCU as a PGR at Durham in 2009 through to advocating with UCU’s Trustees and current GS for secure contracts for the PGRs as Staff campaign co-leads in 2021-2023. She has the integrity, humility, values, commitment and organising knowledge to listen to casualised and PGR members, let us lead on campaigning and organising that affects us, and provide the resourcing and support and union backup to make that effective. Vicky is the best possible GS for PGRs and other casualised members and will ensure UCU goes forwards in our advocacy for casualised member and PGRs, not backwards.
Dima Chami, Bristol University
Laura Loyola-Hernández, Leeds UCU, NEC migrant representative
We’re supporting Vicky because there is never a concern or a voice she won’t listen to and support. She believed us and helped us in changing union structures to recognise migrant members. There is no one more committed to this union and its democratic structures than Vicky. She has travelled up and down the country supporting members in FE, HE and prison education because she believes in the power of collective action.
Steven Spencer, York UCU Joint Branch President
I am the Branch Joint President at the University of York. I first met Vicky back in 2005 in Durham, where we both campaigned to improve the lot of postgraduates at the University of Durham and won substantial changes. What struck me about her then still holds true now. She has a pure and driven passion to make the world around her a more equitable and fair place in which we all have our say. Vicky is tireless and I have wondered many times across the years how she has the time, energy and drive to do all she does. When I voted for her to be president of UCU I did so knowing that she would be a force for good and that our union would be the better for it.
That she served through the Covid period and in what has become an increasingly divided and faction driven UCU was perhaps unlucky for her, but it did mean that we benefited from Vicky’s almost unique ability to cross divides, keep humanity in all she does and to make progress, particularly when progress seems the most unlikely outcome.
If we are wise enough to elect Vicky to the position of General Secretary, I know that she can use her unique skills set and experience in our union to bring us back to being purposeful and member led so we can win. Put simply, she is not just the best candidate on the slate, but the best candidate we could have. With Vicky as GS, branch presidents like me, our committees and our members will return to the heart of our union and we will be empowered to be the change that our workplaces, students and colleagues desperately need.
Ross Gibson, Strathclyde UCU Branch Secretary
I am delighted to endorse Vicky for General Secretary as she is a smart, passionate trade unionist with over 15 years experience at the highest levels of UCU. I know that Vicky will restore the democratic, measured approach to policy and union activity that we need whilst ensuring that members decisions are respected and carried through. At a time when working conditions are under ever increasing attacks, I believe that Vicky’s humility, passion and drive will lead us to securing a better settlement for precarious workers, post graduate researchers, professional staff and academics and I have no hesitation in encouraging you to support her candidacy.
Dr. Caitlin Halfacre, Associate Lecturer, Anti- casualisation officer, Newcastle University
I will be voting for Vicky because in my time as a UCU officer she has been unfailingly supportive of PGRs and casualised members. She holds an incredible depth of knowledge of Union processes and procedures but wants them to serve the needs of every member. She doesn’t underestimate our members or our employers.
Chris Hesketh Sussex Uni UCU
I have known Vicky since we were 9 years old. She has had the same characteristics of being fiercely intelligent, astute and most importantly, caring and compassionate, in all this time. She would make a fantastic General Secretary for UCU.
Comrades, please give her your vote!
Jamie Callahan, Durham UCU, Professor of Organisation & Ethics
I marched with Vicky at the Durham Miner’s Gala 2023 and had the opportunity to talk to her at length about her experience with, commitment to and vision for our union. I told her then, “Wow, you’d be a great General Secretary.” I am so glad she stepped forward as a candidate! Vicky has a long history of working in multiple roles across many issues confronting Further and Higher Education, so she thoroughly understands how our trade union operates. She has a clear vision of what our union could be—based in principles of transparency, democracy, integrity, and solidarity. She is truly an outstanding candidate for General Secretary and I am delighted to wholeheartedly endorse her to be our next General Secretary.
Tom Cowin, PGR, University of Sussex; Anti-Casualisation Officer, Sussex UCU
Having got involved in with UCU as a postgraduate, Vicky understands that building for the future and the fight against casualisation start with PGRs. From chairing the Anti-Casualisation Committee to advocating tirelessly for the PGR as Staff Campaign co-leads, Vicky has always used her vast knowledge and organising experience to improve the lives of precarious workers.
Vicky has consistently championed PGR campaigning and every PGR will benefit from Vicky’s humility, tenacity and integrity as General Secretary.
Morgan Rhys Powell, University of Manchester, PhD Researcher, Graduate Teaching Assistant and former Anti-Casualisation Officer
In three years of being involved in UCU since starting my PhD, it’s become obvious that our union needs a change of leadership. We need a GS who recognises the urgency of each of the four fights, who respects the democratic structures of our union, and who values the work of UCU’s staff. I am confident that Vicky will do all of this given her excellent track record of dedicated organising, the time that she takes to visit and listen to branches, and her hard work on equalities and anti-casualisation over many years.
Chloe Wallace, Leeds UCU previous Branch President
I’ve been working with Vicky at Leeds University UCU since 2018. For much of that time she was a national officer, but Vicky has been ever- present and a massive asset to the branch throughout. Branches – members in our workplace – are the building blocks of our union and Vicky gets that; she works incredibly hard to reach all members, to communicate what is going on and to bring us into debates, decision making, and action.
One of her strengths is that she continually seeks consensus. She is non-factional, she works in a principled and compassionate way across apparent divides, and she is persistently determined about understanding, not just what members want, but also what members can do to build a participative union and improve our workplaces and our sector.
This is what we need in a General Secretary; someone who can lead us away from the conflicted nature of UCU decision-making and from hyperbolic promises, towards the united and effective union that we desperately need. Vicky knows not only why we need to win but how we can realistically do it – that is why I am voting for her.
Gertjan Lucas, Equality Officer University of Nottingham UCU, and Migrant Members Standing Committee
Vicky as General Secretary is exactly what UCU needs. She is someone members can put their trust in, who will level with them and communicate what they need to know without shying away from acknowledging uncertainties and complexities. Vicky will be a GS who will build bridges, get buy-in and energize members to act, stand firm in the face of the challenges UCU and its members face, and most importantly of all do so with compassion and respect to all involved. I know this because I have seen Vicky live up to each of these promises. She has been a strong, constructive voice in UCU, doing the work needed to get agreement on policy on issues that matter and then mobilize the membership to get it done. Vicky has been especially supportive of UCU’s equality groups and committees such as the one for Migrant Members I am much involved with. Vicky is ever present on picket lines, online, and elsewhere to advocate for UCU members and their demands. During her visit to a picket line at my own branch, all we had to do was ask and moments later Vicky was front and center when the media came calling.
Vote for Vicky Blake as your first preference for GS!
Dr Alex Fairfax-Cholmeley, Communications Officer University of Exeter UCU
I am really excited that Vicky is standing as a candidate for General Secretary, and I say that even though I have never actually met her. She took the time and trouble to answer an informal call for help from a couple of Exeter members to help boost our Get The Vote Out efforts back in late 2021 (when Exeter was stuck in a depressing cycle of missed ballot thresholds). Within no time at all, Vicky drummed up speakers for a GTVO event, and then chaired the resulting multi-branch event with warm efficiency. She has long been a prominent voice for the kind of union that I want to be a member of: one that fights tenaciously for its most vulnerable members. She is a great communicator and has excellent, valuable trade union experience to draw upon. She is the General Secretary we need in 2024.
David Pritchard, University of Strathclyde UCU
I will be giving my first-preference vote to Vicky Blake as General Secretary of UCU.
I’m a long-standing UCU member who first became more active in my branch during the 2018 strikes. Since then I’ve served as Branch Negotiator and as a union-nominated member of University Court. I don’t see myself as an activist: I’m an ordinary member, who thinks it’s important to be engaged but who has zero enthusiasm for internal politics or grand ideological programmes.
I’ve found the last few years pretty dispiriting. Official communications have often felt like propaganda rather than information, and decision-making has been almost impossible to follow. Everyone talks a lot about democracy; everybody defines that word to serve their own interests; and members are rarely told enough to let us participate intelligently. Regardless of the industrial strategy we choose (I am a cautious coward; Vicky is more optimistic), we can’t function unless we sort this out.
Amid this mess, both during and since her terms as Vice-President and President, Vicky has consistently worked to keep members informed through social media, and has been careful to distinguish between her own views and the collective decisions of the union. I’ve had many conversations with her, and I’ve come to know her as somebody to whom UCU matters more than her own agenda, who places a very high value on honesty, who knows that details count, and who never loses sight of the need to improve conditions for the most vulnerable people in our sector.
The vote for a GS is not a referendum on our strategy: we have other mechanisms for thrashing that out, and it will take time. Neither does it grant one person a unique mandate to speak with the Voice of the People. We need someone in this crucial role who can work across factions, who will respect processes, and who will tell us what’s going on.
I am voting for Vicky because I trust her to do these things. Please consider doing the same.
Jonathan Saha, Durham UCU
Vicky is a dedicated trade unionist, an unwavering commitment to the labour movement that I believe comes from her boundless empathy. She was the President of Leeds UCU when I was an elected officer there and I witnessed first-hand her fighting for members with everything that she had to give. These were turbulent years, as many members will recall, when the union embarked on the extended strikes over pensions from 2018. She was a powerful advocate for members in negotiating meetings and carried the membership with her through uncertain moments—listening to, and learning from, their concerns, especially where these emerged from positions of marginalisation. There are two things that stick in my mind about Vicky as an organiser during this time. The first was her ability to enthuse others, keeping the morale up and finding the joy in resistance. She inspired others to get involved and strengthen the union. The second was her tenacity. Driven by her principles, tempered by her open, egalitarian disposition, she would battle for what most others considered to be lost causes and winning concessions from management through her doggedness. I urge you to vote for Vicky, there is no one who will worker harder for us all.
Dr Jessica Gagnon, University of Manchester UCU Equalities Officer
In the last few years, I am proud to have stood on the picket lines beside my UCU comrades. Together we have demanded a restoration of our USS pensions, an end to casualisation, an offer of genuinely fair pay, an end to burnout workloads, and real action towards addressing long standing inequalities across colleges and universities.
UCU has celebrated some important victories in the last few years, including the restoration of USS pensions. However, many of our colleagues who are not members seem to have no idea the sacrifices we have made to enable them to suddenly have more take home pay in their pockets and a stronger pension to look forward to in their future. That victory should have been a way to recruit new members by the hundreds of thousands.
Communication has broken down between national leadership and members. Having collective action called off without reasonable notice or consultation (often after 5pm on a Friday) multiple times in the last few years has eroded trust that our sacrifices mean something. For me, the last flicker of hope I had in the current national leadership was snuffed out when our sister union Unite UCU declared that they are in dispute with UCU. How embarrassing and shameful that UCU as an employer is not modelling how we expect colleges and universities as employers to treat us as their employees.
I believe it is time for new leadership and I will be enthusiastically voting for Vicky Blake for General Secretary.
Vicky’s manifesto commits to improving communication and decision making; to enabling more robust recruitment of new members; to developing stronger strategies that draw on the power of our collective; to combating prejudice, discrimination, bullying, and deeply embedded inequalities; and to addressing rampant casualisation and precarity. These commitments are aligned with my values and my hopes for our union.
Vicky is also not aligned with a particular faction within UCU. This is very important to me as I, personally, am not interested in supporting a GS candidate who has chosen a divided side.
I am deeply committed to working together as a collective towards justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion across our colleges and universities. I believe that the hard work needed to create meaningful change is possible under Vicky’s leadership.
Pete Wood, Climate and Ecological Emergency Founding Co-Chair (2022-24), AntiCasualisation Committee Co-Chair (2021-22), Open University Branch Vice President.
Vicky is leading the fight for a Just Transition and a Green New Deal. She led the union’s fight against casualised employment on a national stage, winning the popular vote for the Presidency based on the trust she inspires across our membership. Afterwards she has thrown herself into making sure that our union sets up the structures it needs to fight climate change, demonstrating that new members will get involved if given new opportunities to do so.
Vicky has proven herself as able to remain independent of factions, whilst achieving simultaneous change in national negotiations, local branch campaigning, and in improving our internal democracy. She is committed to making UCU more powerful and more effective, based on turning it into an organisation that actually functions. This is the role of the General Secretary, and Vicky is the person to lead that change.
Peter Tennant, Associate Professor of Health Data Science, University of Leeds
I have found the past few years extremely hard, both as an academic and a member of the UCU. I’m tired, demoralised, and desperate for change. But the thought of Vicky as our general secretary gives me enormous hope.
If you’ve met Vicky, you will know her credentials. Her authenticity, decency, and tireless dedication are immediately clear for all to see. If you haven’t met her, then I suggest reading her manifesto and other endorsements. They speak to someone who is warmly respected for her collegiality and her commitment to reaching and representing all members (especially those who are most disadvantaged).
I myself first met Vicky when she was branch president of the Leeds UCU during the 2018 USS pension strike. Four things struck me then, that remain unflinchingly true:
1) She is trusted and respected by members from all corners,
2) She is an extremely clear and effective communicator,
3) She is ferociously well-informed, taking huge time to understand the details of every issue,
4) She is tirelessly committed to representing her constituents, taking enormous effort to listen to and understand every member’s viewpoint,
I have never met, nor ever expect to meet, someone so thoroughly dedicated to the principles of democracy as Vicky. She is hugely respectful and in turn – rightfully – commands huge respect. I believe she is exactly who we need at this difficult time and the only person who can truly unite and revitalise our union.
Sam Morecroft, USIC UCU Branch Chair
I am supporting Vicky Blake because I believe lay democracy is under attack in our union. I trust Vicky to work with lay reps and rank and file members to build a strong, fighting union because Vicky has done the hard yards as a lay leader at both local and national level for many years.
USIC UCU Branch Committee
We are recommending support for Vicky Blake because of her fantastic support for our historic strike, and because she understands the realities that we face every day as UCU members organising in an outsourced education provider.
Dr Lucy Burke, MMU Branch Chair, NEC NW Representative
I am proud to support Vicky Blake and desperately hope she will be our next General Secretary. This isn’t because we agree on everything but because I know that Vicky will work tirelessly to work with everyone to rebuild members’ trust in the union, to mend the broken industrial relations with UCU staff, and to practice the values we fight for in our workplaces. Her independence is important. Her manifesto doesn’t require the election of a slate to be realised, and she will work with rather than demonise and undermine elected representatives on the NEC. And she will enhance and protect one of the core values of the trade union movement: that we make decisions collectively through dialogue. Being a general secretary is not about appearing on Question Time or LBC, or likes on social media, it is about supporting workers to organise and improve our working lives. Vicky listens, is strong enough to take criticism and brings people together. She’s what the union desperately needs right now.
Tom Goodall, Leeds UCU
Very happy to endorse Vicky Blake for UCU General Secretary. Vicky was branch VP when I was branch President and then we swapped. Vicky is always so supportive, such a good team worker, willing to collaborate with a wide range of people and a great organiser.
Dan Pullinger, Leeds UCU
Delighted to endorse Vicky Blake for UCU General Secretary. I’ve seen first hand Vicky’s commitment and unifying approach to improving and democratising our union, and her determination to fight for the rights of all members, including those in ARPS roles #Vicky4GS #angrylibrarians
Aris Katzourakis, Oxford UCU Hon. Sec., NEC member HE South
It has been incredibly rewarding working with Vicky on NEC. A key motion that we worked on, that really highlights her skills at bridging divides and empowering members was the motion that outlined the provisions for consultations on the USS and four fights disputes. This motion ultimately gave members the choice to be consulted separately on these distinct disputes, and the members chose to acknowledge the progress on USS, whole continuing the unresolved four fights dispute. We also worked closely on developing motions for congress on covid. Vicky is incredibly skilled at integrating trade union concerns with complex scientific issues, and has a thorough understanding of health and safety concerns and mitigations. UCU should lead the way as an employer by employing best practice in its own workplace, and I believe that with Vicky as GS it would.
Dr Eveleigh Buck-Matthews, UCU branch Birmingham City University (BCU UCU)
It іs my pleasure tо endorse Vicky Blake for the position оf UCU General Secretary. She іs undoubtedly the best candidate, with a clear demonstration оf unwavering passion and commitment. Her qualities are evident іn her manifesto, and having personally known her, I have nо doubt that there іs nо one more dedicated оr hardworking for this role. Vicky has consistently supported me throughout my journey іn higher education, from my time as a PhD student tо a precarious worker and now as an ECR. Her ethos and radical care for others would represent a significant step forward for UCU.
Natalie Koptyko
Vicky is that stable and consistent voice that seems to be missing right now. More importantly she isn’t just about slogans, she is about informed action. We have worked together on Ukraine solidarity. No one gets left behind. She works against any form of hate whether it is Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, racism, transphobia, or sexism. Occupation is occupation whether it is Palestine or Ukraine, and a war crime is a war crime. I marvel at how she can be on top of so many member concerns. She works tirelessly to ensure FE receives the same attention as HE. She researches and listens to the specific needs of devolved nations. She has shown leadership on climate change. Her inclusive approach will make UCU democracy accessible to all. She continually inspires me. Vicky is the hardest worker I’ve ever met and that says a lot given I come from a farming family/community.
Chris Pritchard, NTU UCU Branch Secretary
I am proud to support Vicky Blake and strongly believe she is the best candidate standing for General Secretary. Vicky has an excellent record of listening to and engaging with members and activists and I believe will build on this to strengthen our union. Vicky has tabled motions to increase transparency in decision making within our national committees. Importantly she has a platform of overhauling our information management systems to support organising, this is key at a local and regional level to get the vote out and effectively communicate with our members. Finally, I think it’s of key importance as a union to model employment practices that we fight for every day in our sectors, something I know Vicky also believes strongly in and will work tirelessly to repair relationships with our staff union.
Caitlin Adams’ branch president, Open University UCU
Vicky Blake is one of the most effective union activists I have every seen in action. Because she has the full range of experience from extensive rep work to the national role of UCU President, she understands the fundamentals of the union and its structures from the ground up. She knows what support branches and officers need, while also being an inspiring speaker and formidable lobbyist. As an independent she has strong political nous combined with an excellent track record of working across factional lines. And she has my vote because of her demonstrated commitment to improving union democracy, addressing precarious work and building a green union.
Rachel Cowgill, University of York UCU Dept Rep
I am delighted to see Vicky Blake running for General Secretary and fully endorse her campaign – voting for Vicky is voting for a united and strong UCU, with hugely dedicated, experienced and even-handed leadership capable of building consensus on all the issues that count for our members. Today, Vicky exudes the same extraordinary energy and passionate commitment to justice, representation and fair play as she did when I met her 14 years ago. Her understanding of the Union and of the political complexities befalling the HE and FE sectors in the UK are second to none, in my experience, and full of insights gathered from relentless casework, campaigning and conferring with members at every opportunity. Vicky has all the qualities and values we need in a General Secretary capable of taking the Union forward – vision, integrity, intellect, tenacity, humility, accountability, transparency – and I support her candidacy without hesitation.
James Sumner, University of Manchester UCU
Vicky Blake is my first choice for General Secretary. She’s honest, straightforward, and widely admired as someone who will listen to voices from across the Union and and work with all parties to clarify issues and get results, which is the approach we most need right now. Her 15-year track record of UCU service includes roles up to and including President of the Union, but she has first-hand experience of workplace marginalisation, and can be relied on to stand up for marginalised and precarious members. She also works harder than almost anyone I know in higher education, to a level where I start to feel a bit embarrassed about my own shortcomings, but luckily you don’t need to worry about that: just give her your vote, please.
Vicky Blake 