Peter Evans (South Thames College)

Election address

I am delighted to have been nominated by my Branch, and by many other branches across the UK.  I am a business lecturer at South Thames College.

If elected, my objectives include:

Democratisation of UCU

• Bringing the union closer to the local membership, and less London-centric.  I have asked for the LGBT+ MSC to move around the devolved nations of the UK, and to invite observers to our meetings.
• Achieving delegate entitlement for MSCs to Congress, thereby giving greater prominence to the equality issues now under threat in a post-Brexit UK, and with the consequences of Covid 19. 
• Building local support between FE and HE branches where we can work together (pairing), particularly in and after our '4 Fights' struggle.
• I am committed to the rights of trans and older comrades within our union and will continue to campaign for their rights and visibility.

Defending post-16 education

• Opposing the rampant marketisation of education and seeking UCU influence to reverse that process in the struggles over new, post-pandemic, financial models for FE and HE. 
• Resisting mergers and course closures that will deny future generations access to a proper further or higher education.
• Striving to ensure LGBT+ issues are not separated from industrial strategy but are an integral part of it.
• Seeking a consistent UK-wide policy for all branches to abolish zero-hours contracts.

Health, Oppression and Responsibility

• Holding politicians to account. We face uncertain futures consequent on Government ineptitude in mismanaging the pandemic, compounded by Ministers' misleading statistics deployed to deflect responsibility for lives lost unnecessarily. 
• Prioritising, because of my commitment to the elimination of inequality, the task of turning policy into campaigns.
• Fighting all structural oppressions - of race, of gender, and of sex and sexual orientation. We have witnessed how the racism and poverty that run through our society have killed BAME people disproportionately.
• Tackling deprivation and privilege in colleges and universities through a common fight with no concessions to a hierarchy of hurt and damage.
• Devising practical and feasible objectives so our commitments are more than rhetoric.

TU and Activist Biography

• Early Pride marches to London's Jubilee Gardens with activist affection in front of the police.
• Member of the Stonewall Steering Committee.
• UGT Equality Officer in a Barcelona Works Committee.
• Deputy Chair of Unite London & Eastern Regional LGBT Committee.
• UCU Equality Rep, South Thames College, member of UCU LGBT+ MSC, and FE Sector Chair for London Region.
• UCU Left supporter and UCU Left candidate for this position and member of the Vauxhall CLP, sitting on the General Council.

Thank you for considering voting for me. I hope you do so, to enable me to continue with the fight against colonialism and the struggle for equality and diversity within UCU.