Jon Bryan, one of the North East representatives on UCU's National Executive Committee, spoke in support of an anti-racist March and Rally in Newcastle, organised by TCAR.TCAR - Tyneside Community Action for Refugees - organised the March and the Rally and more details can be found at http://www.asylum-seekers-defence.org.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Tyneside_Community_Action_for_Refugees
Speaking at the Rally, Jon offered support for initiatives like this that seek to unite us rather than divide us and welcomed the continued work both TCAR and UCU were doing to challenge changes to ESOL funding. Jon argued "Basic skills should be a right and provided at no cost. What more basic a skill is there than learning English Language so that you can fully integrate into society?"
Jon spoke about the pivotal role that UCU members have in educating others and building up trust with students. He explaining that UCU members voted unanimously to resist attempts by the government to engage lecturers in surveillance measures against students from Muslim and minority ethnic backgrounds at last year's Congress:
http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=2594
