Jo Grady (born 7 April 1984) is a senior lecturer in Employment Relations at

The University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

and a British trade union leader who serves as the general secretary of the

University and College Union The University and College Union (UCU) is a British trade union in further and higher education representing over 120,000 academics and support staff. UCU is a vertical union representing casualised researchers and teaching staff, "permanent" ...

(UCU).

Biography

Grady was born in

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

in 1984, while her father was part of the UK miners' strike. She studied at

Wakefield College Wakefield College is a Further Education and Higher Education College in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It has provided education in the city since 1868. On 1 March 2022, the college merged with Selby College to form the 'Heart of Yorkshir ...

, a higher education institution, and then became the first member of her family to attend university, studying industrial relations at

Lancaster University Lancaster University (legally The University of Lancaster) is a public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several pla ...

. In 2009, she began working as a lecturer in Trade Union Studies at the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_labe ...

. Grady joined the

(UCU) in 2006, and became joint secretary of its University of Leicester branch in 2016. She then moved to work at the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

, and became active in the UCU branch there, as its pensions officer. In 2018, she was elected to the union's national dispute committee for the

Universities Superannuation Scheme The Universities Superannuation Scheme is a pension scheme in the United Kingdom with £89.6 billion under management as of August 2021 (up from £67 billion in 2019). It has over 400,000 members, made up of active and retired academic and aca ...

, on the UCU Left slate, and she enthusiastically supported the union's strike that year over cuts to the scheme. In 2019 she was elected to the union's National Executive Committee. The General Secretary of UCU,

Sally Hunt Sally Colette Hunt (born 1964) is a British trade union leader, the General Secretary of the Association of University Teachers until its merger into the new University and College Union (UCU), of which Hunt was the General Secretary until 2019. ...

, stood down in February 2019, and Grady ran in the resulting election. Her campaign was noted for its strong online presence, and prominent badges and posters. She defeated Jo McNeill and Matt Waddup, taking 64% of the vote in the final round of voting.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grady, Jo 1984 births Living people Academics of the University of Leicester Academics of the University of Sheffield Alumni of Lancaster University Trade unionists from Yorkshire General secretaries of British trade unions People from Wakefield