Will minority voice speak for UCU? 2

I was interested in Sally Hunt's response to the anger over the handling of the higher education pay dispute ("Hustings bring out anger over pay dispute", January 12). It boils down to this: union executives and 70 per cent of members voted for it, so to raise the issue now is divisive and fosters disunity.

Well, that's not the whole story. The ballot was taken only once action had been called off and all the marks submitted. In those circumstances, a 30 per cent rejection is the more startling figure.

Hunt has yet to answer a question I asked her at the hustings. Why has there been no communication with University and College Union members about the outcome of November's Higher Education Consultative Conference , at which all the motions condemning the way the dispute was handled and resolved were overwhelmingly passed by a national gathering of branch-mandated delegates?

The only place where the motions are posted is on the UCU Left website at www.uculeft.org . I suggest that readers take a look at the motions for themselves and draw their own conclusions.

Mark Campbell
London Metropolitan University
London regional secretary higher education, UCU