Dima Chami (University of Bristol)

Election address

Research Associate in West African Literary Cultures, University of Bristol

The Hostile Environment is a set of violent and racist anti-immigrant rules and laws which permeate every aspect of migrants' lives, including their work. Far from shielding migrants from its effects, our sector instead exposes us to the Hostile Environment, and in many cases also colludes with its worst excesses. This is why it is crucial for our union to continue to centre the fight for migrant rights in its policy and campaigns agenda and make our places of employment safe, and not an outpost for border agents. I am proud to have been involved in making this possible by campaigning and succeeding in including migrant status under our union's equality structures and establishing the NEC seats for migrant members. These positions are central to direct migrant representation and mobilisation. Having previously been on the NEC as a migrant rep (Non-EU), I have since contributed to the work of the committee, developing resources for migrant members which range from industrial action Q&As to bargaining resources, to casework guides. If elected, I would seek to further this work by expanding our committee's scope to work collaboratively with other sections of the union in order to address the issues facing migrants at the intersections of race, gender and disability. Another core priority of the Migrant Members Standing Committee is to establish a wider trade union movement for migrants rights and this aligns with my own priorities and ambitions for migrant justice everywhere, and a position on the NEC as migrant members rep would enable me to continue this activist work.