Dr Rhian Elinor Keyse (University of Wales Trinity Saint David)

Lecturer in Global Historical Studies, Institute of Education and Humanities, University of Wales Trinity Saint David

Election address

Equality and industrial strategy cannot be separated. Women, disabled, migrant and racialised members bear the brunt of crises in post-16 education. As a working-class, disabled, queer woman and a survivor of gender-based violence, I know first-hand how precarity intersects with other forms of oppression, after over ten years on insecure contracts. We all need a strong, member-led union that can win. I seek your vote as an experienced, independent voice for women on NEC.  

The fight to end gendered discrimination within our workplaces and union continues. I am a strong advocate against gendered discrimination, bringing motions in support of members experiencing gendered violence, pushing for UCU to improve its complaints procedures to ensure a more trauma-informed approach, and advocating that UCU implements its own policies. With the 1752 Group, I created a toolkit for branches aiming to end violence and harassment against education staff and students. Alongside my academic work on gender-based violence at the intersections of race and colonialism, I bring over a decade of frontline experience, including co-founding a Rape Crisis Centre and leading high-risk domestic violence services, and setting up a support project for homeless and precariously-housed women. My feminism is intersectional, internationalist and practical. I will fight for members on the issues that shape our daily lives: pay, conditions, workloads, job security, safety and respect. 

The latest HE pay and conditions ballot result is not an argument for giving up or blaming reps or activists; it is an argument for organising well. We cannot fix turnout from the top down, but we need to rebuild trust. We need strategy decided by members and serious organising support for branches. Members' trust has been damaged by sharp turns in strategy and decisions taken above their heads. I am not part of any faction. On NEC I have voted with and against different blocs when I believed members' interests required it. I believe the NEC exists to serve and be accountable to members. I have brought NEC motions proposing changes to increase transparency, including the publication of voting records and papers for members' scrutiny. 

I am active in UCU and serve on the Conduct of Members Committee. I have served on the Anti-Casualisation Committee (including as co-chair) and the Climate and Ecological Emergency Committee. I was Branch Secretary at Birkbeck and Anti-Casualisation Officer and Vice-President at Exeter UCU, where I authored the anti-casualisation claim and co-founded the Anti-Casualisation Network. As co-chair of the Anti-Casualisation Committee, I campaigned for recognising PGRs as staff. I am a founding member of UCU Members for Ukraine. I stand against genocide in Palestine and in unequivocal solidarity with trans and non-binary comrades, women of colour and migrant members.