Our Work
QMUCU Equalities is a dedicated team of reps and officers working together on workplace policy and practice that has an equality dimension. As such, our work is wide-ranging and comprehensive, especially as we attempt to tackle workplace issues through an intersectional lens.
The UK’s Equality Act (2010) identifies 9 ‘protected characteristics’ (age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy and maternity) that must be protected against workplace discrimination. We campaign for management to comply with the law and to go beyond it and work towards progressive policies and procedures.
Our core mode of delivery is to work with our members to ensure minorities and protected workers have a voice and visibility in all QMUCU activities and campaigns.
The Equalities Team
The QMUCU team includes two Equalities officers: kitt price (SED) and Yasmin Ibrahim (SBM); a Black Members Rep: Sadhvi Dar (SBM); and an LGBT Members Rep: Mustafa Ozturk (SBM).
We have vacancies for the following reps: Women members, LGBT members and Disabled members. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact Yasmin or kitt or send a message to ucu-coordinator@qmul.ac.uk.
Black Members Campaign
UCU uses the term ‘black’ in a political sense to refer to people who are descended, through one or both parents, from Africa, the Caribbean, Asia (the middle-East to China) and Latin America. It refers to those from a visible minority who have a shared experience of oppression.
We have initiated two key activities for black members in 2016.
- A regular black members meet and greet. These are regular meetings taking place throughout the year and usually over a Wednesday afternoon between 12-2pm in the Senior Common Room. The meet and greets provide a safe space for our black members to congregate, discuss topics and ideas that are relevant to black members work, research and day to day experiences.
Look out for emails advertising the next meet and greet.
- A black members discussion e-list. This e-list provides an online space for black members to connect and use the forum for discussing ideas or promoting seminars, trainings, events that are of interest to all black members. If you self-identify as a black member, please join the group: https://www.lists.qmul.ac.uk/sympa/info/blackmembers-qmucu
In 2017 we launched a campaign for QM to publish its missing four years of workforce diversity data, having been promised the data year after year in the university’s Equality and Diversity Steering group. The missing data campaign post includes a timeline and links to our campaign materials.
In 2016 we started building a QMUCU Equalities network, with our first meeting on 27th January. We participated in the first ever UCU national day of action against workplace racism on 10th February. Watch this space for future actions.
In 2015 we held an event joint with QM UNISON and Human Resources, focusing on race, ethnicity and religion at QM. Participant suggestions and contributions are summarised here.
And in 2014 we surveyed members of QMUCU about ‘race and ethnicity in the workplace’. You can download the survey results here.
You can access UCU Equalities resource and information here.
