Kathleen Stock’s union betrays her.

[MangoSeason]

Pathetic. Weak. Craven.

twitter.com/Docstockk/status/1447863827018702855?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

This betrayal by the unions is one of the many stabs in the back within all of this. I've been a staunch trade unionist all my working life, but I cannot rely on the UCU to support me. I was planning on raising a complaint to my employer (a northern red brick with a militant UCU branch) over being compelled to state my pronouns, but I'm not even going to bother because I know they won't be on my side.

It's a fucking disgrace.

That's appalling and it will encourage further attacks on Prof stock.

I left my union because I'm not paying subs to an organisation that I know won't support me

My husband's in a union, but I am not for these reasons - I've asked him to agitate but he says it's the same with all unions (He's in UNITE)

And in The Times today, "Members can identify as black, disabled or female, university union insists"

A union that represents academics has reasserted a commitment to allowing its members to self-identify as being black, disabled or female.

A Twitter post by the Edinburgh branch of the University and College Union (UCU) said: “A reminder of UCU’s strong position in support of trans inclusion. Liberation cannot be built on exclusion”.

It contained a link to a policy document endorsed by the UK-wide union that states: “UCU has a long history of enabling members to self-identify, whether that is being black, disabled, LGBT+ or women.

“UCU supports a social, rather than a medical, model of gender recognition that will help challenge repressive gender stereotypes in the workplace and in society.”

One staff member at Edinburgh University, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, claimed that trans rights activists within the union were seeking to “weaponise” the issue and force out academics who expressed scepticism over the concept of self-identification.

Appalling.

The phrase "identifies as" should rightly be changed to "wants to be".

I hope she has a good employment lawyer.

Utterly disgraceful.

Are the biology faculty staff members of this union?

That’s utterly appalling. A union that condemns free speech and supports the removal of staff...

Disgusting but not surprising.

The question for every member of this union is:

Who's Next?

UCU are utterly fucking useless. Totally fucked any chance of taking on employers effectively on things like pensions devaluation by binning the idea of focused campaigns in favour of wanking on about 'four fights' - who the fuck thinks they can win on four fronts simultaneously? That level of stupidity should have automatically disqualified you from getting anywhere near a university job.

And in the middle of the biggest public health crisis the universities have ever faced, when staff are often being made to work in unsafe environments, they'd rather bang on about Israel and attack a lesbian academic.

UCU is functionally useless now. Time for a new union.

What a craven, arse licking statement. Im ashamed to have been an active trade unionist and one time shop steward all my working life if this is what a union is now. Lets call out the dogs on the lesbians. And HALFWAY down the statement, a few weasel words about condemning violence and harassment. If this is over the top - Im just bloody angry.

@Jaysmith71

The question for every member of this union is:

Who's Next?

Exactly @Jaysmith71 I left UCU a while ago over this issue. If they won't protect women who hold legal views then I'm not paying my subs to them. And I'm a strong supporter of unions as a concept so it was hard for me to leave

Surely there must be something in the constitution of a union that says they can't actively contribute to getting you fired? Isn't protecting employment the whole bloody point of them??

The unions are captured. The government really, really needs to step up.

What with this and people like packham and vine being attacked, it's completely out of hand.

And now I've gone and earwormed myself:

I move myself and my family aside
If we happen to be left out of the line
I'll get all my papers and smile at the sky
For I know that the hypnotised never lie

DM are on it
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10083077/Trans-community-blasts-bullies-trying-silence-feminist-lecturer.html

Strange times, when I regard DM as an ally.

I think we should start to take issue with the term transphobia. It is used as a silencing tool and I sometimes think that it is given far too credence. A fear is one thing, a hatred is another. The "be kind" mantra appealing to female socialisation and acceptance of others is pretty revealing that the majority of women don't participant in hatred. Fear on the other hand is entirely rational when it comes to men. Males are stronger than women and we know that sufficient male born people wish harm to women. Being afraid is rational. The easy banding about of the word transphobia is part of the control technique isn't it? It is really disgusting behaviour.

In a statement 'in support of trans and nonbinary communities', sent to all members and posted online by Prof Stock, the union reps write: 'We extend our solidarity to all trans and nonbinary members of our community who, now more than ever, should receive the unequivocal support of the University and its management

Translation : In a statement sent to all members the union reps write: "We pledge to extend misogynistic ideology and practice to figuratively and literally fuck over all women in the name of patriarchy evermore. A-men".

@Bollockstothat

UCU are utterly fucking useless. Totally fucked any chance of taking on employers effectively on things like pensions devaluation by binning the idea of focused campaigns in favour of wanking on about 'four fights' - who the fuck thinks they can win on four fronts simultaneously? That level of stupidity should have automatically disqualified you from getting anywhere near a university job.

And in the middle of the biggest public health crisis the universities have ever faced, when staff are often being made to work in unsafe environments, they'd rather bang on about Israel and attack a lesbian academic.

UCU is functionally useless now. Time for a new union.

I think this is very important.

The UCU are pretty toothless on issues which are the 'traditional' job of unions.

We can probably trace it all the way back to Thatcher's reining in of Union power.

The UCU have been missing in action over the decimation of Further Education - and the impact of that on all those working in FE.

They may have been pretty hopeless with regards to HE - but workers there have masses more power and prestige than their FE colleagues - FE workers really, really needed a Union.

And the UCU really didn't/couldn't step up there. Partly as a result of being tied into changes in the law around what action unions can take, partly through being outmanoeuvred by changes in contemporary working conditions.

The UCU are left with symbolic gestures.

But it's madness.

Who needs to pay Union dues for symbolic gestures? You can do that for free, yourself, on Twitter. Or with a badge, or a t-shirt.

It's a depressing expression of futility.

Unions really, really need to re-organise in the face of massive changes to working conditions in the 21st century.

My feeling is that the solution UCU have chosen (become a signaller of ideological and cultural positions) is strategically terrible. Really bad.

I mean, you just don't need to pay into a Union to do that, do you?

Especially when work is getting more precarious and the cost of living means your wages don't go as far.

It's just a really great way to make people wonder what the point of joining a Union is.

Especially when a lot of people are experiencing worsening working conditions right now and experiencing a real mis-match between how hard they work and what they can then afford - and are wondering, 'Why is there no organisation that can help me re-adjust this? Surely this is what a trade Union movement is for?'

Yet again, the UCU with trans and non binary people being the 'most vulnerable' trope.

So Kathleen Stock OBE, a lesbian woman, has had calls for her to be fired from students(?) in masks/balaclavas, smoke bombs, police concern regarding her physical safety, death and rape threats, colleagues openly sounding off against her, a union apparently against her and against the recent expression of support she received from the university - though she had been left twisting in the wind for months before.

Yet somehow, this community of trans and non binary people is most vulnerable at Sussex.

Seriously, more vulnerable than Kathleen right now?? Let's not forget her 'crime' - because she has the temerity to be part of LGBAlliance and believes in the material reality of sex.

And surely calling for unequivocal support without knowing if some members of the community are actually engaged in the harassment and bullying is a potentially risky move by UCU?

Obviously UCU will have actual documented proof of worse bullying and harassment for trans and non binary staff members at the University, yes?

In which case, wow.

@Sicario

And in The Times today, "Members can identify as black, disabled or female, university union insists"

A union that represents academics has reasserted a commitment to allowing its members to self-identify as being black, disabled or female.

A Twitter post by the Edinburgh branch of the University and College Union (UCU) said: “A reminder of UCU’s strong position in support of trans inclusion. Liberation cannot be built on exclusion”.

It contained a link to a policy document endorsed by the UK-wide union that states: “UCU has a long history of enabling members to self-identify, whether that is being black, disabled, LGBT+ or women.

“UCU supports a social, rather than a medical, model of gender recognition that will help challenge repressive gender stereotypes in the workplace and in society.”

One staff member at Edinburgh University, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, claimed that trans rights activists within the union were seeking to “weaponise” the issue and force out academics who expressed scepticism over the concept of self-identification.

Interesting that it mentions being able to self-identify as a woman, but doesn't mention self-identifying as a man. I wonder why?

And is it ok to self-identify as black these days then? Cos there's some BAME support groups round here that sound really interesting, and a scholarship for black women. . .
NO OF COURSE IT'S NOT OK!!

Betrays all women.

Agree with all that, thecatfromjapan

Even fairly recently, though, UCU were better - their campaigns were focused on limited goals (adding 1% to a pay offer, say) that were, in theory, achievable. That's all gone out of the window these days. But then, it's so much easier, so much sexier, to take a righteous stand on Israel than to put in the hard, morally impure, work of negotiation in favour of your members' interests.

I imagine that university management and the government are delighted by UCU in its current form - shouty, ineffectual, virtue wankers whose only real acheivement is to alienate normal people.

Has Kathleen Stock ever even said anything transphobic? Stating biological facts is not transphobic. What on earth do biology profs teach these days?