Josh Moos (Leeds Beckett University)

Election address

I work as a Lecturer in the Business School at Leeds Beckett University.

I've been an active UCU member since joining Leeds Beckett University in 2016 as an hourly-paid part-time lecturer in Economics and Politics. Before entering HE I worked in schools and as a youth worker, during which time I was a UNISON rep, as a full-time organiser for a grass-roots environmental campaign and spent time working in Palestine including with the International Solidarity Movement. These experiences helped to form my union and political activism.

I joined Leeds Beckett UCU branch committee in 2018 during our successful local anti-casualisation dispute where I became a representative for my subject. Between 2020-1, I held the Sustainability Officer role, between 2022-23 I served as Communications Officer and between January and June 2023, I served as Acting Chair. I am a branch delegate to the UCU Y&H Regional Committee and serve on Leeds Trades Council. I am a member of UCU Left.

I have taken part in extensive UK-wide strike action over the last 12 months, as well as the MAB. Alongside local organising, I've been involved in national processes including being a delegate to Congress, Special HE conferences and BDMs.

In late 2022, I led on setting up our local hardship fund and was actively involved in setting up the local salary sharing scheme in response to MAB. These initiatives were highly successful and provided members with financial support during the protracted disputes.

While the outcome on the USS disputes is welcome for all members (both post and pre-92), there has been no victory on the Four Fights. We need a clear strategy moving forward based on what members collectively and democratically decide. I believe that Congress and Sector Conferences are the sovereign policy-making bodies of the union, and decisions made at these forums must be enacted.

As a rank-and-file member, I know that our power exists in our collective strength and democratic decisions are best conducted through collective decision-making, rather than individualised online voting. We must avoid 'stop-start" approaches to industrial action which demoralise and confuse members while leaving us vulnerable to management intimidation. We need sustained and coordinated action. As passed in HESC 2023, though not implemented, this requires a national strike committee and regular formal BDMs.

We are living through unprecedented times, from the cost-of-living crisis to the impacts of catastrophic climate change to the genocide currently being inflicted on Palestine. Within our sector, the impacts of casualisation, real-terms pay cuts, excessive workloads and pay gaps remain devastating. This is why we need a fighting union which places industrial and political action at its heart. Elect me and I will do my utmost to meet the challenges we face.