The Certification Officer has now issued his decision in Blake and McGaughey v UCU. One complaint was upheld in part as a technical breach. The rest were dismissed, and no rerun or further remedy was ordered. I wrote about the case before the hearing [here]. The full decision can be read [here], and I would … Continue reading The Certification Officer’s ruling: Blake & McGaughey v UCU
Certification Officer Hearing: Blake & McGaughey v UCU
This is about trust and proper process: an explainer ahead of the 10 February Certification Officer hearing in Blake & McGaughey v UCU, concerning alleged non-compliance with UCU’s election rules in the 2024 general secretary election.
General Secretary Election Hustings Recap
Over the past month and a bit, all four candidates in the UCU GS election have been invited to 16 hustings events. Several of these are available to watch back online, so please see the hyperlinks below if you want to catch up -- if I have missed one here, please let me know and … Continue reading General Secretary Election Hustings Recap
Fourth member email: for a strong and confident UCU
Below is the fourth and final email I sent to all members of UCU as part of the General Secretary campaign, on Tuesday 22 February. Please note that 22 February is the last date to request a replacement ballot and that 26 Feb is considered the last safe posting date given the envelopes are prepaid … Continue reading Fourth member email: for a strong and confident UCU
Third member email: Industrial Strategy and Equality, Health & Safety
Below is the third email I sent to all members of UCU as part of the General Secretary campaign, on the 13th of February. Dear members,Democratise - Organise - Unite In this email I focus on Industrial Strategy and Equality, Health and Safety. My full manifesto is available here: https://vickyblakeucu.uk/manifesto and the official UCU HQ … Continue reading Third member email: Industrial Strategy and Equality, Health & Safety
Questions on USS
The night before the ground-breaking 2018 USS strike, as we packed our hired Leeds Strikemobile full of picketing materials for 14 days of action, I was told Leeds would be hosting all the major news crews and would I please do the (Today programme) first thing… Through snowstorms, hail and wind, we stood firm and … Continue reading Questions on USS
Second member email: Democracy & Decision-making and Recruitment & Organising
Below is the second email I sent to all members of UCU as part of the General Secretary campaign, on the 6th of February. Dear members, Democratise - Organise - Unite In this email I'm going to focus on two areas of my manifesto for change in UCU: democracy and decision-making, and recruitment and organising. … Continue reading Second member email: Democracy & Decision-making and Recruitment & Organising
First member email
Below is the first email I sent to all members of UCU as part of the General Secretary campaign, on the 25th of January. Democratise - Organise - Unite Dear members,I am the Branch Secretary of University of Leeds UCU and a former UK President of UCU. I am running as an independent candidate to … Continue reading First member email
Vicky Blake 