Aris Katzourakis (University of Oxford)

Election address

I am a Professor in Evolution and Genomics at the University of Oxford. My research focuses on viruses, both ancient and modern ones, such as HIV and SARS-CoV-2.

My involvement in the branch committee began in 2018 after the USS strikes, and has seen me take on roles including in the joint committee, vice-president, co-president and honorary secretary. At national level, I have served on NEC, education committee, been a branch delegate, sector conference, and congress delegate. I am a caseworker, and have trained and recruited new caseworkers. I have helped grow our branch membership by more than 50%, expanded its network of reps, health and safety reps, committee, and strengthened its position within the university.

I believe strongly in member engagement and participation, and have successfully led ballots over the 50% threshold on both the four fights, and the USS pensions disputes. During the 2019-2020 strikes, I chaired our strike committee and co-ordinated industrial action, maintaining pickets across the city, organising lively teach-outs, rallies, marches, and forged lasting links with the broader regional trade union movement.

Since COVID-19, I have been a main negotiator in a new grouping between management, UCU, UNITE and UNISON. We have been pushing for changes to best represent our members interests. These have been challenging negotiations, but we have implemented improvements, including a commitment that furlough would not be linked to risk of redundancy, the introduction of a robust face coverings policy, a pilot testing scheme, and are working on improving ventilation standards.

I co-ordinated a high-profile campaign to challenge the University's refusal to make their risk assessments available to the union, to ensure safety. I led a working group to co-ordinate our branch response to its first section 188 notice for redundancies in the department of Oncology. I successfully negotiated the first ever facilities time agreement for our branch, giving substantive paid time off for trade union activities.

My professional interest in virology has seen me become engaged in COVID-19 and public outreach, including regular media appearances, been co-opted onto the executive of Scientists for Labour, and joining independent SAGE in 2022. I strongly believe in working with broad networks and the wider trade union movement to best represent the interests of our members. Together with my experience of negotiating at the highest level with the University of Oxford, a term of service on the NEC, I want to bring this background and contribute to the largest fightback our union has seen.

We are in the most challenging period that UK universities have experienced in our lifetimes. We have to build on the gains over the last year and strengthen our union if we are to resist the evolving situation in higher education.