Dyfrig Jones (Bangor University)

Election address

While I had been a member of UCU since 2009, it was only in 2018 that I began to play an active part in the work of my local branch. Like many others, I was inspired to act by the successful USS strikes and the way in which the union set out an alternative vision for the future of education. Industrial action in defence of our pensions grew into something far more important, a collective conversation about how to rebuild and reinvent HE.

One of the reasons that I have decided to stand for the NEC is that I feel real disappointment with what has happened since 2018. Many members argued then that UCU should adopt a more participatory model of democracy, where ordinary members views could be heard more clearly. This was, and is, a commendable aim, but I am not convinced that our approach to democratic participation is working. At all levels of the union, I have heard members raise concerns that they are being excluded from the debate. I worry that we are becoming a union where a small cadre of highly ideological activist members dominate all discussion and set strategy.

I fully respect the role of Congress as the policy-making body of UCU and believe that it is the most important forum for members to decide upon the direction of the union. I do not, however, believe that UCU should be relying on an ever-increasing number of Special HESCs and Branch Delegate Meetings to take important executive decisions.

For me, an effective democratic trade union is one where the entire membership is able to make decisions on the big questions of policy and overall strategy, but where nationally-elected representatives - our General Secretary and the NEC - are able to exercise their judgment when putting those policies and strategies into practice. To constantly demand that the GS and NEC defer to Branch Delegates Meetings is to undermine the balance between representative and participatory democracy which is key to a well-functioning union.

I am standing for election because I believe that I have the experience to represent our members well. I am in my third successive year as Branch President at Bangor University and have steered the branch through an extremely challenging period. I also spent almost a decade as a member of Gwynedd County Council and have been a member of the Plaid Cymru NEC. I am a Senior Lecturer in Film at Bangor University, and in my spare time I volunteer as a director of two co-operatives in Bethesda, where I live.

If you haven't already guessed, I am not a member of UCU Left. I support Maxine Looby for election as FE Vice-President