Suzi Toole (Bolton College)

Lecturer, Science, Bolton College 

Election address 

Our union belongs to its members.  

As branch chair at Bolton College, I led members through strike action that delivered unprecedented pay rises, workload agreements and extra annual leave. That experience taught me that when members are trusted, supported and listened to, we win.  

After fifteen years as an FE tutor, I know the pressures that crush staff across education, from unmanageable workloads, entrenched inequalities to insecure contracts. I also know our collective action can deliver the changes we urgently need.  

As Northwest regional chair, I've worked to bring together FE and HE branches on matters that connect all our members.  This, alongside my roles on the NEC and as FEC chair, has reaffirmed that our union is strongest when those grassroots experiences shape and inform our campaigning.   

We cannot build UCU from the top down. We build it from branches up.  

I am immensely proud of the work our union does to speak out for our trans and non-binary members, particularly in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling. My time as Chair of the Women's Committee and Vice-Chair of the Equality Committee has deepened my conviction that equality is central to everything, but equity must be the ultimate goal. Pay, workload, and casualisation all disproportionately affect women, LGBTQ+, disabled and racially minoritised staff.   

Through that lens, my focuses as Vice President would be:  

• Campaigning to end the equality gaps prevalent in our sectors   

• Confronting course cuts, redundancies, casualisation and spiralling workloads in HE  

• Securing binding national pay and meaning workload agreements for all FE members  

• Fighting for secure funding and an end to precarity in adult education  

• Rebuilding prison education branches decimated by redundancies and ensuring members' voices are heard at the decision-making table   

• Empowering our members to speak out on the climate crisis as a trade union and education issue.   

Tackling workload and mental health crises across all sectors must be treated as collective bargaining issues with enforceable workload caps, robust stress risk assessments, and sector-specific training for reps, members and UCU staff.  

Through my experience as a committed trade union activist, I know change is won by careful preparation, collaboration and persistence in negotiations, backed by active and organised members on the frontline and, if necessary, on picket lines.  

If elected as Vice President, I will draw on the skills, tools and experiences I have gained to help steer UCU toward a future rooted in equity, transparency, and a shared solidarity - a future not just defined by words but by meaningful action.  

I am supporting Mark Pendleton for HE Vice President. You can find the list of other candidates I'm supporting here: https://tinyurl.com/NECElections2026  

and more about my campaign here: https://www.SuziTooleForVp.com