On the levy…

Lots of UCU members shocked by the email that ticked into their inboxes this morning: £10 levy this month & £5 next month to top up depleted fighting fund. I and other new members of NEC also shocked when we learned of this at last Friday’s meeting. But existing members should not have been. The decision to make pay-outs more generous was taken by NEC in February. At last week’s meeting of NEC (on June 18) Claire Marris and I asked whether it was made clear at that February meeting that levies would be likely consequence of the decision. The answer was clear: yes, they were. I think the minutes of Feb meeting must be published, so we can see who proposed the new system and who supported it. (I’m not saying it was a bad decision necessarily, but NEC members must take responsiblity for their — our — decisions.) In the meantime, any member who’s unhappy, I suggest you write to your representatives on NEC and ask them direct how they voted and why.

This is yet another instance showing why we need much more transparency and accountability in our union’s governance structures — why these proposals need to be adopted. (There was no time to discuss them in last week’s meeting.)