Militant lecturers' union calls for government to stop arming Ukraine

Militant lecturers’ union calls for Western governments to stop arming Ukraine, accuses Zelensky of turning his country into ‘outpost for US imperialism’

• Dr Jo Grady was ‘disappointed’ her union passed a motion attacking Ukraine
• The UCU secretary was yesterday forced to beg members not to leave union

A union boss has begged members not to quit after it passed a motion attacking Ukraine.

Dr Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and Colleges Union (UCU), said she was ‘deeply disappointed’ after militant lecturers demanded the Government stop arming Ukraine.

Their motion ordered the union to support anti-war organisations and accused Kyiv’s Volodymyr Zelensky of wanting his country to become ‘an armed illiberal outpost of US imperialism’.

As outrage from members grew, Dr Grady was yesterday forced to beg members not to leave the union. She said: ‘I was deeply disappointed the motion passed.

Dr Jo Grady, general secretary of the University and Colleges Union (UCU), said she was ‘deeply disappointed’ after militant lecturers demanded the Government stop arming Ukraine

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‘As general secretary, I am not entitled to vote in the democratic structures and processes of UCU, but if this were the case I would have voted against the motion, and joined the many who did.

‘I am acutely aware that the passing of the motion at our congress has caused a great deal of understandable upset and anger, and it sends the wrong message about our union.

‘I want to seek ways for UCU to put that right. It has also become a distraction from our industrial agenda at a critical time.

‘I know that some members are thinking about resigning from the union in response. This is the last thing you should do.’

The motion, passed during the union’s annual congress in Glasgow, called for a peaceful resolution to the war. It also acknowledged that Vladimir Putin has ‘the use of nuclear weapons and unleashed war crimes’.

It comes as students face having their graduations delayed. A marking boycott is part of action by the UCU, which represents 120,000 academics and support staff, in its long-running dispute over pay and working conditions.

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