Sam Morecroft (University of Sheffield International College)

Election address

I am a sessional tutor in Social Science at USIC. I was Anti-Casualisation Officer at the University of Sheffield between 2014-2019, where I led on winning victories for casualised members, including securing employment contracts, marking and preparation pay for large groups of hourly paid staff. I also led on securing a ban on the use of casual worker agreements in 2018.

I was elected to the Anti-Casualisation Committee from 2015-2019 and 2020-Present and now serve as Co-Chair. I have used my position to support grassroots anti-casualisation campaigning and to develop our unions approach to fighting casualisation within and beyond our sector.

I joined USIC in 2020, serving first as Secretary and now Chair to the branch. This branch is one of the few outsourced private education providers where UCU has secured local recognition. During this time I have been involved in a successful campaigns to extend our recognition agreement to include student support staff, and in successful campaigns on pay. In November 2022 I led my branch to take the first ever strike action in an outsourced higher education provider in the UK in an ongoing campaign for a cost-of-living pay rise. I have supported UCU members at Sussex ISC to win recognition in another outsourced private education provider and if elected I will continue to push for recruitment and recognition campaigns in outsourced education providers where we see some of the worst examples of casualisation in the sector. 

I co-authored the Democracy Commission motion at our 2018 Congress and served on this Commission as representative of casualised members. I believe strongly in democratic member-led trade unionism and want to continue to campaign for a union where all elected representatives and senior officials are accountable to and directed by members.

I am not a supporter of any electoral faction in UCU, but I am a member of Socialist Alternative and want to work with all genuine and serious activists to build a strong left within UCU. As Vice-President of Sheffield Trades Council, I am involved in broader campaigns against insecure work such as Sheffield Needs a Pay Rise and have been involved in supporting the Just Eat courier strikes, the longest running gig economy strike in UK history.

The neoliberal education system is built upon the hyper-exploitation of casualisation, which disproportionately impacts women, LGBT+, disabled, Black and migrant workers and other oppressed groups, and robs us of dignity and security. We can only defeat casualisation by fighting for an alternative education system - a socialist education system - based on public ownership and democratic institutions. We face an unprecedented crisis and must respond by continuing to build power in our workplaces and by developing a political programme for post-16 education.