Thread by @ucu

UCU Congress 2023 is underway with an opening address from our President @janetfarrarUCU:

"It’s been quite a year to be UCU’s first Goth President. The biggest ever FE strikes in England with the prospect of even bigger action to come."

"I have to take the time to say how very proud I am of my own branch at The Manchester College. They have had a renewed energy over the last year or so, a huge upsurge in membership and are fighting back against the terrible pay we have in FE." ✊

Janet now turns to her visit to Colombia last month:

"We went up into the mountains and met with former combatant peasants rebuilding their community brick by brick. It really brought home the huge importance of international solidarity."

🇨🇴🤝 @JFColombia

"I’m very proud of the work of the Sexual Violence Task Group, brainchild of the GS. I was so pleased to be part of the selection panel & to have been able to visit one of their subsequent meetings. What an incredible group of passionate and dedicated people"

"A word on our General Secretary, @DrJoGrady. She has taken this union to a place it has never been before. She has been more visible, more engaged and more committed to members than anyone could have hoped to be."

#ucuTOGETHER

Janet says she is "so so proud to be UCU and I look forward to seeing what more this union can achieve, whilst I go back to seeing if I can still remember how to teach..." 😂

Closing her address to Congress, @janetfarrarUCU tells delegates:

"We all want better pay, better T&Cs and better lives for our members. The enemy is the employer, not each other. So let’s get on with the job. Solidarity to you all." 🤝

#ucuTOGETHER

"Now most of you know that I’ve spent a lot of my career in FE. I’m in awe of the work of our prison educators who’ve had major wins for their members this year and continue to build and grow, and of our amazing adult educators working for the communities we live in." 👏