David Bretherton (University of Southampton)

David Bretherton (University of Southampton) 

Election address 

I am an Associate Professor in Music at the University of Southampton.   

I joined UCU in 2011 to participate in the USS strikes. A few years later, I received excellent caseworker support, and a few years after that I joined my branch's Executive Committee, so that I could help others as I had been helped. I first served as Equality Co-Officer and trained as a caseworker, supporting disabled members during the COVID19 lockdowns and beyond, and I am now in my second year as Branch President. I work hard to support local members and believe that it is important that all members feel heard and represented. Recent branch activities include resolving probation errors for 58 fixed-term staff (we are currently in extensive local negotiations to reduce casualisation), entering formal disputes about governance and MAB grievances, and donating to Fobzu and MAP to support Palestinians.   

The prospect of significant job losses across the sector is the most urgent and critical HE issue facing UCU. Universities UK and UCEA have been poor advocates for HE, and the new UK Government appears almost as indifferent to the sector as the last. UCU must mobilise to protect jobs and the future of HE by increasing casework capacity, restructure- and redundancy-support training for branches, media campaigning, and lobbying. The 'four fights' (casualisation, equality pay gaps, workload and pay erosion) must continue; I believe that reducing casualisation is the key to unlocking all of these, due to the transformative impact this can have on equitable pay, career progression, and workload planning. I am very proud of the stance that UCU takes on LGBTQ+ rights, and of its equalities advocacy generally; I do not believe that trans rights conflict with women's rights or academic freedom.    

UCU's strength depends on its membership size and density, so our priority must be to recruit members and to ensure that those we have are and remain engaged. To maintain engagement, I believe that members need to be involved in taking key decisions and setting priorities, and so I believe we should regularly review our democratic structures and practices, to ensure that they remain effective. We must also reconnect with members who have lost faith in us in recent years, whether that be because of dissatisfaction around recent industrial action, the 2023 Congress motion on Ukraine, reported disagreements on NEC/HEC, frequent attacks on the General Secretary, or disputes between UCU's leadership and the Unite-UCU branch. We must regroup and refocus so that we can deliver for our members.   

I am not a member of a UCU faction or political party. I will be voting for my Southampton comrade, Denis A. Nicole.