Will Jo Grady’s wafer-thin mandate weaken union bargaining hand?

Jo Grady’s re-election as general secretary has done little to resolve the divisions within the University and College Union (UCU), with her critics claiming she lacks a strong mandate as she seeks to rebuild the union after a bruising campaign.

The incumbent secured another five-year term by just 182 votes on a low turnout, narrowly defeating King’s College London professor Ewan McGaughey in the fourth and final round of voting after also being challenged by Vicky Blake and Saira Weiner.

Given the margin of victory was so tight, Professor McGaughey called for a recount, while alleging Dr Grady’s use of official UCU social media and email during the campaign unfairly stacked the odds in her favour.

His intervention has prolonged an often-bitter battle, which saw Dr Grady challenged over her handling of the industrial disputes that have dogged the sector in recent years.

“I think that this was an incredibly tough election for Jo Grady. She has been subjected to a campaign of vilification that has lasted for two to three years, much of it deliberately designed to undermine her position in advance of the election,” said Dyfrig Jones, a senior lecturer in film at Bangor University and prominent backer of Dr Grady’s re-election campaign. 

He said the union needed to draw a line under the past few years and get behind the general secretary. “We have wasted too much time and energy on attacking Jo Grady, and need to focus our energies on what really matters – tackling the crisis across the education sector and working positively with the next government on meaningful reform,” Dr Jones said.

Dr Grady campaigned on a promise to take a more strategic approach to securing progress on the union’s pay and working conditions aims after years of strikes.

The dip in her support compared with 2019 – and the fact that just 15 per cent of the membership voted – means she does not have a “clear and sizeable mandate”, particularly as her closest rival gained so many votes on a very different policy platform, said Gregor Gall, a visiting professor in industrial relations at the University of Leeds.

“That an outsider could come so close to unseating the incumbent and easily surpass the votes of two national activist candidates is highly significant,” he added.

The size of Professor McGaughey’s vote shows his emphasis on using the legal system to force change appeared attractive to members, said Duncan Adam, a senior lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University who specialises in industrial relations. 

Dr Adam was sceptical that many of the sector’s fights could be settled by such an approach – with the length of time legal redress takes a key factor – but it shows members are looking for new ideas after gaining little from years of industrial action, he said.

While her second term does not officially begin until the summer, one of Dr Grady’s first tasks post-election will be preparing for the annual round of pay negotiations at a time of constricted finances across the sector.

These talks have resulted in industrial disputes in each of the past five years, but this time UCU has no mandate to strike after its last ballot failed.

Dr Grady has shown little appetite to quickly call another ballot but will come under pressure to deliver something that looks like a win for members.

The apparent precarity of her support – and disengagement among members – may embolden employers, said Professor Gall, who predicted a harder stance on pay and jobs alongside a keenness to concentrate on “softer” issues such as equality.

“This will make bargaining for 2024 more fraught but may not necessarily see a return to widespread industrial action,” he added.

Dr Grady did not appear to have gained a majority of seats on the union’s influential higher education committee, pointed out Michael Carley, a senior lecturer in mechanical engineering at the University of Bath, with four of nine of the candidates she endorsed getting elected.

He said this might mean a continuation of the dynamics of previous years, with the general secretary and the national committee publicly disagreeing on industrial relations strategy. 

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com