This is an email sent to subscribers of the #Grady4GS mailing list on Friday 3 May 2019 (some subscribers may have received this later). To subscribe to our GDPR-compliant list, please fill out your details here!
On Thursday 23 May 2019, the General Secretary (GS) ballot will have closed (see our FAQs). That isn’t much time for all those supporting Jo Grady get their ballot papers into the mailbox with her listed #1. We really need your help.
Members who are engaged with UCU will probably vote quickly and have probably already decided who to vote for. Our Grady4GS campaign is also focusing on increasing the vote among UCU members who wouldn’t usually vote in a GS election. We estimate that a high percentage of UCU members still don’t know the election is going on and how important it is, despite the all-member emails they should have received this week.
So to ‘get the vote out’ we need to ‘get the word out’!
Here’s what you can do:
Join—or carry on working in—a ground team: Huge thanks to many of you who are already part of a ground team at your institution. It’s been fantastic to see Grady4GS initiatives sprouting all over the country. We’d love more of you to help. : she’ll put you in touch with others getting the vote out for Grady at your institution, or help you to get your institution off the ground. (The #Grady4GS campaign team will be sharing basic contact details with Claire Marris to coordinate the ground game.)
Carry on talking to and emailing colleagues: Putting up posters and distributing postcards is very important, but it’s also crucial to speak to people face to face and email them (see our template here). Most members don’t know the election is happening and/or how important it is to cast their vote. Do not assume that an expression of support for Grady automatically turns into a vote for Grady. Remind all colleagues to post their ballot.
Help other members receive GS emails, and change their membership info: We’ve encountered lots of members who haven’t been receiving the candidate emails that are supposed to go to the entire membership. We can’t even be sure that our so-called ‘all-member emails’ are actually reaching all of UCU’s members. We can’t take members’ awareness for granted.
Some UCU members (e.g. PhD students who are paid for teaching) might need to change their membership category to receive ballot papers.
For a full set of solutions to these issues, see our ‘Election FAQs’.
Read and share new blogs and other writing from Jo Grady: In the last day, Jo has published blog posts on Academic-Related and Professional Services staff, university finances, climate change, and Brexit. She has also now published the text of her second all-member email, which focuses on casualisation and is scheduled to go out to the membership on Sunday morning.
Attend hustings: The timetable of remaining hustings is here. You can watch the recording of the one held at the University of Cambridge, which went very well and showcased Jo’s unique strengths as a candidate.
Use – and encourage others to use – #Grady4GS campaigning materials: All resources are gathered here. In particular:
You can download the I voted for Jo Grady! animated graphic and post on Twitter or Facebook.
You can print out posters in black and white and photocopy on coloured paper.
Subscriber list: Ask people to join our subscriber list. This is the only GDPR-compliant way we have to contact people.
Crowd funder: Printing and posting out campaign materials to ground teams is expensive. We have raised an amazing £2,911 so far: please help us reach our £3,000 target to cover these costs.
We can get Jo Grady elected as the next Gen Sec and transform our union. We’re counting on you!
Jo Grady and the #Grady4GS Team
Jo Grady for UCU General Secretary