Dr Deepa Govindarajan Driver (University of Reading)

woman

Election address

NEC, HE South

Vice-President and Pensions Officer, Reading UCU

Elected national Pensions Negotiator USS

UCU member since Sep 2010

UCU Left

Lecture in Governance, Regulation and Risk, University of Reading.

Our educational institutions are being managed in ways that ignore the fundamental values many of us cherish. The Covid-19 pandemic, comes in the wake of decades of unsustainable student recruitment, excessive pay for senior management, focus on new shiny buildings, overseas campuses and expensive extras that do not really contribute to education. For These foolhardy ventures though have resulted in rampant inequality, stagnant pay and job insecurity for many workers. Marketisation, casualisation and financialisation have instead contributed to the erosion of our institutions. The physical and mental well-being of staff and students has become all-too-expendable. Meanwhile managers have been adept at spinning a false narrative of caring for the community and for us through dubious well-being programmes all the while increasing workloads to unsustainable levels

As a black, woman, disabled member (with a hidden disability), who has experienced casualisation first hand, I can empathise with and relate to structural barriers our members confront.  My experiences on UCU's NEC, as a national negotiator, and as a branch activist who has supported local action mean that I am aware of the realities of grassroots work while understanding the bigger picture. As an NEC member, I have campaigned and organised to address these issues nationally, and have contributed particularly to work on saving our pensions, on making the union more accountable and to amplifying grassroots activists' efforts to hold employers to account.

My background and experiences allow me to engage credibly with the issues plaguing our institutions and I stand committed to amplifying UCU's efforts to create a more sustainable education sector that treats staff and students fairly.

As a former financial regulator, and having worked in financial services, I bring skills and insights that will be valuable for deliberations of the NEC. 

If re-elected to NEC, I will continue to press for employers to reduce workload and casualisation while improving pay, working conditions and pensions. I want to see reduced bureaucracy, greater transparency and genuine accountability both within our institutions and in our union and I will continue to put in the work it takes to make these a reality.