UMUCU calls for Jo Grady’s resignation

The University of Manchester branch of the University and Colleges Union, (UMUCU) has released a series of motions that were announced on X, following a meeting with members.

Among the motions, the branch announced that it no longer has confidence in the General Secretary of the UCU, Jo Grady, and it immediately calls for her resignation from the position.

Other UCU branches across the country have also called for Jo Grady to resign, including branches at Durham, Glasgow, Leeds Beckett, and Keele universities.

The motion expresses the branch’s disagreement with the General Secretary of the UCU calling unilaterally for a pause to strike action despite not reaching a deal with the universities’ and colleges employers association.

This comes as Jo Grady recently announced her intention to stand again for the position of General Secretary of the UCU, with a vote to be held in January.

The Manchester UCU branch states that it believes the Marking and Assessment Boycott (MAB) was mishandled by the broader national union, and its mismanagement is a symptom of “a broader pattern of the UCU’s national leadership ignoring the union’s democratic mechanisms.”

The UMUCU says that it recognises the “effectiveness of the MAB”, and it asserts the dispute would have possibly been resolved quicker had the re-ballot, which only concluded on November 3, been initiated sooner.

Another motion passed by the UMUCU states that the attendance monitoring practices adopted by the University are “discriminatory, stigmatising, and an extension of the hostile environment at UoM.”

Their motion resolves to call “on the University’s Compliance team to suspend the new attendance monitoring system immediately.”, and to “investigate the impact of attendance monitoring on students’ wellbeing.”

This motion also calls for the UMUCU to support any “legal action against the University for breaching the Equality Act (2010)” if the University does not withdraw its practice of attendance monitoring.

Other motions passed by the UMUCU include a decision to make a £250 donation to the Greater Manchester Hazard’s Centre, as well as calling for an end to “Israel’s assault on Gaza” and to support any campaigns “aimed at ending the current attack in Gaza.”