Calls to re-run UCU election dismissed by trade union watchdog

The trade union watchdog has rejected calls to re-run the last University and College Union (UCU) general secretary election after concerns were raised about its leader, Jo Grady, securing an “unfair advantage” in the poll.

The Certification Officer, Stephen Hardy, has dismissed six of the seven complaints made against the union by Ewan McGaughey and Vicky Blake, two of the candidates in the 2024 vote that re-elected Grady for a second term.

One complaint was partially upheld on a technical breach, but the officer declined to impose any sanctions, finding the election was “conducted to be substantially in accordance with the law” and any breaches did not “help sway the election result”.

McGaughey and Blake alleged that Grady had broken election rules due to her use of union resources such as office space, mailing lists and software that the other candidates could not access.

Another complaint centred on a video made for Grady by a contractor who usually worked for UCU.

However in a judgement, Hardy, an independent officer appointed by the government to oversee trade union activity, says he was satisfied with how the election was run.

He found that while campaign films had been made at union offices, UCU had not “enabled” this, and it did not entail the use of any union funds or resources.

Videos had been made by a freelancer operating in a “voluntary capacity”, he finds, and so union funds or resources were not used.

A further allegation that Grady had pressured union staff to work on her re-election bid relied solely on anonymous witness statements which Hardy says involved “multiple hearsay”.

“In these circumstances, on the balance of probabilities I remain circumspect as to giving these witness statements any weight and value,” his judgement states.

Further complaints that Grady used UCU mailing lists and speaking opportunities to advance her campaign were also not upheld, with the Certification Officer finding these represented “business as usual” activities for the union during the campaign.

The one complaint that was upheld focused on the use of a UCU livestreaming platform “Streamyard” which Grady was found to have used during a campaign broadcast but this was put down to “simple human error”.

“I do not accept that such a breach swayed the election result,” Hardy says, declining to issue an enforcement order as steps had already been taken to prevent its future usage during election campaigns. An order to re-run the election would be “inappropriate”, he adds.

In an update to members following the judgement being made public on 31 March, Grady said that “despite knowing these complaints had little or no foundation, we were obliged to invest substantial amounts of money, and time, defending the union”.

“It is now a matter of public record that neither the union, nor I as general secretary, systematically disregarded our own rules, as was claimed,” she adds.

“I hope this matter is now closed, as significant union resources have been spent on this case. Resources that I know you, our members, want spent on saving jobs, tackling out of control workloads, guaranteeing better education funding, and delivering for UCU members. That has always been, and remains, my sole goal.”

Reacting to the judgement, McGaughey said it was “another sad day for UCU”, adding that the CO has “rarely given any remedy, and continued this trend with us”.

“We are incredibly grateful for everyone’s support, and stand in solidarity with UCU staff and members who are crying out for change: fair pay, equality, democracy at work, serious climate action, meaningful political action, and winning a fully-funded National Education Service, free at the point of use.”

Blake said it was a “a limited and disappointing result for us”, adding the case had been brought “because members were entitled to greater transparency about how the election was conducted, and because the concerns raised by whistleblowers were serious enough to warrant independent scrutiny after the internal routes had been exhausted”.

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com