Thread by @ucu

UCU's @DrJoGrady now speaking at #TUC2020. She starts by paying tribute to UCU members who have considered to work so hard throughout lockdown. She tells delegates that education never stopped, despite what ministers may have you believe.

She says we are the ones calling for caution and planning. The government and sector leaders are ploughing ahead because they've constructed a market for education that needs its ultimate consumers - students - to pay fees and rent. tuc.org.uk/watch-congress…

The real power of our movement lies in mass participation by workers who take the initiative, speak out and act decisively when they know they are in the right, @DrJoGrady tells #TUC2020.

She said that when UCU members stood by their students over the exams fiasco, we demonstrated what can happen when you campaign unapologetically about an injustice. We supported the NUS in their clear, set of demands. The government saw that and it forced them into a U-turn.

She says the government has no answers that do not rely on rebooting the economy by asking us to pay with our health. She says ministers' sole intention is to get the economy going again, but the economy is already broken and does not serve us.

She says unions have the answers on climate change, on economic justice, on anti-racism, and every other challenge we face. She tells delegates that now is the time to talk to everyone they know. Organise with them. Join together.

She says that, ultimately it is workers that make unions. People who show up and say ‘enough’. She says UCU members are doing this to protect themselves, their students, and the sector they love.

She concludes by asking delegates and viewers to please support their local college and university in this. She says we need everyone to pull together to keep the whole of the UK safe.

You can find more details about @DrJoGrady's speech to #TUC2020 here ucu.org.uk/article/10983/…