Blog
Statement on Candidates for Women's Officer
I have received a number of complaints concerning comments that Mark Pickard and Peter Saul (Candidates for YUSU Women’s Officers) made during hustings last night.
I have reviewed these complaints, and believe the comments made are in breach of the YUSU Equal Opportunities Policy as outlined in the constitution. I firmly believe that elections are about giving members of YUSU the opportunity to choose the people who will represent them, and I feel that it is vital that union members are given the opportunity to vote for the candidates of their choosing, even where those candidates do not align with the prevailing view. While I do not feel it is appropriate to remove these candidates from the ballot, I have taken the decision to impose a ban on campaigning from 0900 tomorrow (3rd March) until 1630 12th March. During this period, Ms Pickard and Ms Saul will be asked to surrender their identification badges, cease all physical or digital campaigning, and will not be allowed to attend any group or society meeting in order to campaign. A range of non-election related procedures exist to support members of the union who feel harassed, and I would encourage anyone who feels upset or offended following this incident to contact the women’s officers at womens@yusu.org.</P>
