Vote for Molly Cooper Higher Education Service Group Executive, London Female Seat

I'm so glad Molly is standing in London because we really do need the strong, fighting leadership that she represents. With her experiences as a rep at UCL branch I've no doubt she is more than capable of standing up for UNISON members who desperately wish to see a union that campaigns not capitulates. She is the right person for the incoming HE SGE as she is clear on her principles and tactics. I'll be putting a cross next to Molly because...

Dear London UNISON HE colleague,

I am standing for election to the Higher Education Service Group Executive Greater London Region Female Seat.

As Unison members in Higher Education we face challenges that directly threaten our terms and conditions and impact adversely our living standards. To halt these attacks we need to organise collectively across all Higher Education branches.

To build a campaign to reject attacks on all pension schemes in Higher Education. We must not accept any pension plan that forces us to pay more, work longer & get less. To ultimately defeat these changes we need to be prepared, if necessary, to link up with other trade unions like on November 30^th and take part in further coordinated strike action. If we lose the battle over pensions, this will further embolden management and the ConDems to unleash an unprecedented attack on our working conditions.

We are working harder than ever before and suffering the adverse effects of restructuring with members seeing their posts being dissolved, redefined as fixed term or having to compete with colleagues for a dwindling number of posts.

Increasingly management are pursuing an agenda to outsource jobs or pursue shared services and redundancies like at Middlesex and London Met.

I have campaigned in my branch to oppose the outsourcing of a majority BME workforce and have seen first-hand how destructive it is when staff with secure terms and conditions are forced into the hands of a private company. We have to stand firm & resist the race to the bottom that threatens to slash our wages and working conditions.

I am currently the UCL Unison Women’s Officer and I have witnessed first-hand that women are bearing the brunt of bullying, discrimination and abuse power by managers. Negotiations must begin to defend our members and back up reps facing these issues on a daily basis.

I am active in the UNISON United Left. Given the onslaught our members face from the ConDem Government, fighting on a branch level on its own is not enough. Our union needs to be at the forefront of organising protest and coordinated national industrial action to defend the jobs and conditions of our members. We need to unite across the public sector to build a real 'counter-coalition' of trade unions and community groups to protect the services that we and other working class people rely on.

That also means changing the culture of our union from one that seeks to make deals on behalf of the members to one that organises and is genuinely member led, by seeking to involve every member, encouraging activists and welcoming debate.

That is why I am standing for this important position in our service group. I hope you will consider voting for me. Please also consider voting for Sandy Nicoll, SOAS Branch for the Greater London Region General seat and Emilse Ocampo Medina for the Greater London Region Reserved (Low Paid Female seat) on the Higher Education Service Group Executive

Solidarity,

Molly Cooper