Striking while the iron is hot

The University and College Union’s new general secretary Jo Grady tells Fiona McIntyre about her priorities.

Jo Grady has started her time as general secretary of the University and College Union with a spring in her step. In May, she won the backing of 64 per cent of voters in the final round of the union’s leadership contest, with a record turnout of 20.5 per cent of members, thanks to a slick campaign with strong grassroots support.

Grady—a lecturer in industrial relations at the University of Sheffield who had never held a top-level leadership position before—stresses that becoming general secretary is “a huge responsibility” and “a privilege” that she takes seriously.