Building to win: UCU needs you

Our union is crucially important. Without UCU members, there would be no post-16 education. Without post-16 education there would be no art, no science, no philosophy, no medicine. There would be no film, music or culture. There would be no research or teaching. We would not have libraries full of knowledge, and we would not have a labour market full of skilled workers. We would not have fulfilled people capable of critical thinking or compassion. We have survived, and at key moments won key battles for UCU members, during the last fourteen years of the Conservative government. But it is important that we do more than this. It is important that we grow our union, grow our strength in every UCU branch, and become a powerful force to be reckoned with in every college, university, continuing education centre, and prison where we have UCU members.

To achieve this, UCU is launching the Building to win, a local bargaining initiative which was a significant part of my campaign during the general secretary election. The initiative recognises that to build power in our sectors, we must build power in every single UCU branch. This means building capacity for local bargaining, and giving branches the training and tools they need to engage in that bargaining.

Your role in shaping this has been important. Members' engagement meetings held back in June have already made a difference to the initiative, but I am now ready to present the final version to you. This means I am hosting further member meetings on Building to win as follows:

• Monday 28 October: briefing at the Mechanics Institute, Manchester
• Tuesday 29 October: briefing at the Renfield Centre, Glasgow
• Friday 1 November: briefing at Aston University, Birmingham
• Thursday 7 November: briefing at UCU head office, London

At the briefings I will be accompanied by UCU staff, and we will be introducing our new and improved in-house system that is called the Organising and Bargaining Information System (OBIS). It brings together a number of data sets to help branches and regions develop effective organising and bargaining. We will also be rolling out newly updated guidance on workplace issues that members have told us is important.

The briefings are a brilliant opportunity for you to continue to shape the future of our union, in an open, transparent, and strategic way. It is also an opportunity for you to find out how you can play a key role in building power in your branch and securing a future for post-16 education. I look forward to meeting with as many of you as possible. If you would like to attend one of the briefings, please complete the application forms linked above. Places are limited. UCU centrally will pick up reasonable travel and subsistence costs.

You may also want to know that I have also written to all branches suggesting they survey members to find out what you see as the key issue for your union to raise with your local management. I am encouraging all branches to do this during October, and to let me know what the priority issue is for you locally in early November.

I hope to meet as many of you as possible over the next few months.

In solidarity

Jo Grady
UCU general secretary