Endorsement from Dr Christienna Fryar, University of Liverpool
When I moved to this country almost two years ago to take up a lectureship, I found an HE sector plunged into severe interlocking crises that pose an existential threat to university education. Workload crises and overweening bureaucracy combined with obsession with meaningless metrics all shift our focus away from what’s meaningful. Our union should be leading the fight against these crises, but it is clearly out of touch with members in all post-16 education sectors and has not figured out how to tackle these fast-multiplying threats. Jo Grady was a standout presence on Twitter during the USS strike, providing clear explanations and information when national UCU failed to do so. Her manifesto is exciting and presents a real vision for an inclusive, responsive, union that fights for our ability to work with dignity and return tertiary education to the public good that it should be. I endorse Jo Grady for General Secretary.