Ray Campbell, anti-casualisation officer and rep, writes about his experience of attending the recent UCU Congress.
I don't think anything could have prepared me for my first UCU Annual Congress. I'd attended the UCU Equalities Conference in December 2022; a party conference, as a former member of Left Unity; and I had watched the TUC conference when they used to show it on television. So I was familiar with how these things work. However, this was different: it was long, it was intense, and it was exhausting. Next time, I'll get into training before the big event, but how that training might look is something that I would need to think about.
I arrived at the SEC (Scottish Event Campus) on Friday at about 5pm and, after checking into the hotel and taking a quick shower, I headed to the venue to register. There was a drinks reception at 6pm and there was plenty of wine, but little in the way of sustenance beyond junk food. Crisps and buttery biscuits are hardly what I had it mind after travelling for hours on a train, and I wanted something more substantial to soak up the booze. Wouldn't you? Once the drinks reception had finished, I tried to find something to eat. As I was heading out, I got chatting to another delegate and he recommended the Rotunda. However, after standing at the front of house for about 2 or 3 minutes, someone came over and told me that the kitchen had closed. Disappointed, I returned to hotel, thinking that I might be able to get something to eat there. Sadly, the bartender that I spoke to informed me that the kitchen was closed, and that there was a McDonald's up the road. Reader, I have never eaten at a McDonald's, and when people were celebrating the opening of the first branch of the burger chain in Woolwich in the 1970s, I shrugged. After telling the bartender that I'd been boycotting McDonald's for decades, he suggested I download an app instead. This only added to the pain and frustration (it had been nine hours since I'd had something to eat). I eventually downloaded Uber Eats and ordered a genuinely nice pizza from Franco Manca.
The first day of Congress began at 9.30am, and the first hour and a half was taken up with procedure and several motions that had been submitted late. Lunch was served at 12.30 and consisted of dry sandwiches, a rather anaemic looking salad and some square chocolatey thing. That evening Donna and I took a trip to Argyle Street. The taxi driver recommended Mother India, which is across the road from the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and, despite there being a queue (usually a good sign), we managed to get a table quickly. The food was lovely, and the only downside was that our main courses arrived before we'd finished our starters. Note to restaurateurs: never serve the main course until the customers have finished their starters.
The second day was gruelling, and it occurred to me that there were probably too many motions on the conference agenda. Again, the lunch was disappointing and although vegans, vegetarians and coeliacs are catered for, there were no low carb options for type 2 diabetics. This is a frequent problem for those of us who have been diagnosed with diabetes and although my condition is in remission, and I'm always careful about what I eat, I found that I had little choice but to eat what was available, and spent the next week avoiding as many carbs as was humanly possible.
I need to talk about motions 5 and 6, both of which were concerned with the war in Ukraine but for very different reasons. Motion 5 urged conference to call for an immediate cessation of hostilities; called for Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine and for the UK government to stop arming Ukraine. It also called for congress to support protests by Stop the War, CND and other organisations. Motion 6 recognised Ukraine's right to self-determination and condemned the Russian invasion. This motion also resolved to campaign for the UK government to waive visa restrictions and provide safe routes for all refugees and asylum seekers and to offer them full university/college scholarships. As RHUL UCU delegates, we abstained on both motions, because the branch hasn't discussed the war in Ukraine and thus had no expressed position on this and other international issues. For the same reasons we also abstained on motions 7, 8 and 9, which dealt with Israel and Palestine.
Day 2 ended with the congress dinner and disco. Now, when I see the word 'disco', I'm immediately reminded of the 1970s and early 1980s, and godawful songs like 'The Macarena' and 'the Birdie Song', and people dancing in lines. I left the disco to the sound of some Abba song or other.
I met some great people at Congress and had some lively and interesting chats, and I look forward to seeing some of them again at future conferences. I also attended some interesting fringe events; perhaps the most inspiring was the anti-casualisation fringe meeting in which I heard some truly inspiring stories of how some branches have managed to extract concessions from their SMTs. Another told us of how they had to deal with an intractable and 'sweary' VC when the issue of casualisation was raised. We also heard stories of how senior managers at some post-1992 universities, Nottingham Trent and Birmingham City, for example, have withdrawn from national pay bargaining, while Staffordshire is considering it. Sam Morecroft of Sheffield University International College told us how his branch had not only recruited new members, but also achieved recognition in the International College, which is part of, but separate to, Sheffield University and run by the Study Group. Sam also told us how senior managers at universities around the country are increasingly turning to Study Group to circumvent local union branches. This brings me our own International Study Centre (ISC), which is in the Founders Building (West). Here, we need to do two things: first, we need to identify ISC staff who are union members. Second, we must carry out a recruitment drive within the ISC. I believe Sam has developed a template for this purpose.
I missed the last day of congress because I had a routine hospital appointment this morning and had to leave early.
Finally, I would also conference organisers to start a little later: say, 10am? I think I need a holiday.
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