Dr Matthew Barnard (Manchester Metropolitan University) 

Dr Matthew Barnard (Manchester Metropolitan University)  

Election address 

Lecturer, Philosophy, Manchester Metropolitan University   

I'm a philosophy lecturer from a working class family, a first-generation student, completing my doctorate part time while working, and who recently became a full time permanent lecturer after a decade of casualised contracts. I feel extremely lucky for where I have ended up, and, because of how I got here, no matter how precarious things feel for me during the major crisis the sector finds itself in, I recognise that there are people in much more challenging situations.  

These perspectives are not often represented in elected roles, which is part of why I wish to stand.   

I've benefited from the expansion of access to Higher Education for people like me, and after fourteen years of misrule and mismanagement by the Conservatives, their goal of snatching those opportunities back through high fees, no grants and choking universities of resources seems close to fruition, even after their electoral defeat. The new government is cautious when radical reforms are needed. Not only are redundancies occurring and being threatened across the sector, we face the very real possibilities of institutions collapsing. In this context, inflation beating pay rises are the least of our collective worries.   

Our focus should be on protecting vulnerable institutions, campaigning for better working conditions and equity. We must recognise that while many members are struggling after a decade of pay cuts, we were not able to win in previous rounds of strike action. And the moment for pushing on that further is not now, when so many members' jobs are at risk.   

A trade union should stand for and defend the rights of its workers and strive to improve their conditions. As things stand, our union is too often derailed from this purpose. That is why I am standing for election to the National Education Committee to represent higher education workers in the North West. As the crisis continues to develop, we approach what might be the most challenging fights of UCU's history and that requires us to bring even more members along with us. I want to represent you with a realist approach towards these challenges and dedicated to working towards an NEC and HEC that is in line with all workers in the sector.   

Please also vote for other UCU Commons candidates, more information is available at:   

https://ucucommons.org/nec25   

I am supporting Dyfrig Jones for Vice President of UCU and Andrew Feeney for Treasurer