UCU commemorates Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD), observed annually on 27 January. It does so in memory of the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust and the millions of people killed by Nazi persecution and in subsequent genocides in Bosnia, Cambodia, Darfur and Rwanda, and in order to challenge hatred and persecution in the UK today.

Also targeted were political opponents and trade unionists, Black people, people marginalised as ‘criminals’ and ‘asocials’, queer people, Jehovah witnesses, disabled people, population of occupied Eastern Europe, as well as other groups.

Register for a webinar led by the eminent expert, Professor Zoë Waxman introduced by UCU general secretary, Jo Grady by Monday 27 January at 09:00.

Date: Monday 27 January 2025, 12:00-13:00

Details: In this short talk, Zoë Waxman, Professor of Holocaust History at the University of Oxford, will explore the pre-history of the Holocaust, identifying the ways in which the Nazis prepared the German population for the mass murder of the Jewish people. By separating them from their neighbours, by normalising violence, and by institutionalising discrimination, they created the conditions in which genocide became almost unstoppable.

Questions: Professor Waxman welcomes pre-submitted questions. Please send these to eqadmin@ucu.org.uk. There will also be the opportunity to ask questions on the day.

There are a number of important matters in the agenda below. Two may require us to begin formal proceedings against the Employer, whose success may turn to a degree on the strength of support that we give them; so we need more than ever to ask for your views.

In turn:

• Our members among the Library staff have been pursuing a collective grievance with support from the Exec. Ümit and one of our affected members will give an update.
• The Exec believes that the Employer has embarked on a plan to act unlawfully in violation of the Statutes. Recently Exec members were informed—with no consultation—that the provision in the Statutes guaranteeing the presence of lay members on certain panels would be weakened. The Whistleblowing Procedure has been invoked to raise a legal concern. As there is a parallel industrial case, Daniel Maguire, who supports from UCU Regional, encourages us to begin the first stages of formal dispute. (He will join us briefly if possible, depending on a casework meeting.) See attachment for more.

The agenda:

1. President’s update, inc. Dignity at Work policy;
2. Library staff collective grievance update: UMUCU strategy;
3. Lay governors on panels violating of Statutes; start of formal dispute;
   1. Motion.
4. Unite–UCU dispute [Update from Unite member]; 
5. Further Motions:
   1. BDS motion proposal;
   2. Stand Up to Racism motion;
6. Know your Rights! Online session, 05 Feb 2025 – 12:30-13:30;
7. Report from David Swanson on meeting with Salford & MMU;
8. AOB.

The MIE Anti-Racist Education Network warmly invites you to our upcoming seminar on 30 January 2025. We are honoured to host Professor Gary Younge as our guest speaker.

Gary is an award-winning author, broadcaster and a Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester. Formerly a columnist and editor-at-large at The Guardian, he is an editorial board member of the Nation magazine, the Alfred Knobler Fellow for Type Media and winner of the 2023 Orwell Prize for Journalism. 

At the age of just 24, Gary was sent to report for the Guardian on South Africa’s first democratic elections where he accompanied Nelson Mandela on the election trail. Over the ensuing three decades, he has had a ringside seat during the biggest events to impact the Black diaspora: from joining revellers on the southside of Chicago during Obama’s victory and entering New Orleans days after Hurricane Katrina, to interviewing such luminaries as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Maya Angelou and Stormzy.

He has witnessed how much change is possible and the power of systems to thwart those aspirations, which he recounts in his powerful new book, Dispatches from the Diaspora. 

We invite you to join us for this inspiring conversation with Gary Younge on 30 January 2025. Please use the following link to book your ticket:

 https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/umit-yildiz/t-vvgvoqd . 

We look forward to seeing you there.

Where: Ellen Wilkinson Building,  A2-6

When: 3pm – 4.30pm

Education session on workers’ rights organised by UMUCU, but open to ALL STAFF. The speaker is Sarah Murphy from the Greater Manchester Law Centre. Should be interesting to all. Please feel free to forward the poster on to any networks you think would appreciate the invitation. Register at: https://tinyurl.com/knowurrights1

UCU Exec members will be at the John Rylands Library Staff Room on Wednesday, 15 January, from 12 to 2pm. Stop by to say hello, learn about what UCU does, ask for advice on work-related problems, get an update on our campaigns, or perhaps discover how you can contribute to UCU’s work at Manchester University.

Members’ meeting: on governance and 2035 workers’ strategy

At this week’s union meeting, Wed 27 Nov, 12:30, Zoom [link below], we will be launching our own Workers’ 2035 Strategy Survey, with most of the meeting devoted to discussing university governance. UoM’s governance structures are severely dysfunctional, with significant consequences for us all, such as the SEP. This meeting is to explore ways to drive positive changes towards democratising our university (and universities more broadly).

          Our own Prof. Steve Jones will lead the discussion. He is currently leading a project on university governance, funded by the Campaign for the Defence of the British University. There will be plenty of time for questions and contributions. These two links contains some food for thought:

https://wonkhe.com/blogs/cultures-of-university-governance-need-urgent-attention

https://wonkhe.com/blogs/cultures-of-university-governance-need-urgent-attention

Sign the Workers’ Pledge for Palestine

All out on this Wed 20 Nov, 2.30pm, Whitworth Arch, on Oxford Road, to demand UoM cut ties with Tel Aviv University now!

Tel Aviv University is known to actively contribute to the Zionist murder machinery. Since their inception, they have enabled theft of Palestinian land and provided support for the Israeli military. Only last week, Tel Aviv University invited its students for a day of volunteering in an army base—this is the social activity of Israeli so-called “academic” institutions: supporting a genocide. This comes after years of providing resources to the Israeli military.

For over a year, our students have been taking action to demand that UoM cuts their now unsupportable relationships with Tel Aviv university and BAE systems; so far, the University has refused to take the right step.

On Wednesday, the Board of Governors meet at the University. We will raise our voices again and show that we will not rest until one very crucial decision is taken: the ending of the partnership with Tel Aviv University! No rest until British institutions end their complicity in the suffering of Palestinians and others. Join us on Wednesday, 2.30pm, at Whitworth Arch, Oxford Road!

https://gmpfdivest.my.canva.site/home

One of our UMUCU members is asking for your support for a Manchester City Council motion to divest the Greater Manchester Pension Fund from arms and fossil fuels. The GMPF currently invests £1.74 billion in companies like BP, Shell, and BAE Systems. On 27 November, the council will hear a motion to divest from these companies.

There’s no guarantee that the motion will pass (it’s a Green Party motion, and the Labour majority has yet to say whether they’ll support it).

If you’re a Manchester resident, your council taxes help to fund the GMPF. Additionally, UCU members can play an important role in supporting this motion because the USS recently sold off £80 million of Israeli assets—which shows that it can be done. If you’d like to support this motion, please follow the link above to contact your councillors.