Defend National Contracts

Dr Ryan Burns. Lecturer in Media Studies, University of Brighton.

Candidate for NEC member for South (Higher Education).

As a union rep I have a track record of supporting members with individual casework, organising within my branch and affecting union policy at Congress. I have led negotiations with management locally which have secured important victories on workloads and casualisation. I have organised pickets, rallies and marches during UK-wide disputes such as Four Fights and UCU Rising and local disputes including our fight against redundancies in 2023-24.

Union roles:

• Branch Chair, University of Brighton (current)
• Various elected branch roles including Secretary, Communications Officer, Membership Secretary, University of Brighton (2017-2024)
• Caseworker (2018-present)
• UCU Rule 13 Commission elected member for South East (2022-23)
• UCU Conduct of Members Committee elected member (2024-2026)

I am an experienced negotiator, having led negotiations relating to redundancies and been part of the negotiating team at University of Brighton which has secured victories on workloads and casualisation in local negotiations in recent years.

But local action is not enough. We need to defend our national contracts. Our union must be pro-active in defending national agreements, rather than leaving branches to fight alone when they are attacked. An injury to one is an injury to all, and our responsibility is to act collectively for the benefit of all. As a member of UCU Left, I believe in a member-led union which fights to defend jobs and improve working conditions for academic-related and professional services members and academic staff from PGRs to professors.

Our fight against redundancies at the University of Brighton in 2023-24 included the longest ever continuous strike in UK higher education. I understand the sacrifices that members make when taking industrial action and I believe it is essential to use our democratic structures to ensure that industrial action is led by the rank and file members who take that action. At a UK-wide level, we need to improve member involvement in decision-making through mechanisms such as strike committees. This will ensure that when we call industrial action, we call the kind of industrial action that members support, on timelines determined by members.

In recent years I have become more involved in UCU’s structures. I have been an elected delegate to Congress and BDMs in each of the last five years. At Congress I have moved motions on trade union coordination, strike pay and industrial action strategy. I was elected co-chair of the Rule 13 Commission established at Congress 2022 and am an elected member of the Conduct of Members Committee.

If elected to NEC, I will continue to fight for the interests of every member and to ensure that UCU remains a member-led, fighting union.

I endorse Rhiannon Lockley for VP and Deepa Driver for treasurer, and the UCU Left slate:

Full election details are here. Elections are by postal ballot, opening on 27th January 2025, closing on 3rd March 2025