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The University of Brighton UNISON branch has voted to back the Fossil Free Careers campaign, calling on the University to end its recruitment relationships with the fossil fuel industry. The campaign, coordinated by student-led campaigning charity People & Planet, demands UK universities adopt an Ethical Careers Policy which excludes oil, gas and mining industries from careers recruitment.
The UNISON branch at Brighton becomes the 4th workers’ union branch to back the campaign, joining staff and students across the UK in the call for Fossil Free Careers. To date Fossil Free Careers has seen 3 UK universities fully exclude oil, gas and mining industries from careers recruitment, with a further 13 student unions also committed to boycott the industries. The campaign has also received the support of staff and students across the UK, having been officially endorsed by both the National Union of Students (NUS) and the University and College Union at their national congress.
This year has seen the University of Brighton fall 38 places in People & Planet’s University League, which scores UK universities according to ethics and sustainability criteria. Ranking 71st in the University League, attention is turning to Brighton to make a commitment to sustainability by implementing Fossil Free Careers. Now with the backing of the UNISON branch, the campaign for Fossil Free Careers at Brighton is gaining momentum, with both staff and students demanding the university ends fossil fuel recruitment on campus.
Ivan Bonsell, University of Brighton UNISON Branch said:
“We’re pleased to be involved in campaigning for fossil free careers at universities. It makes no sense for higher education to encourage and promote the idea of graduates working in industries to extract more fossil fuels to be burned. These industries need to be radically transformed with serious investment in renewable energy and guaranteed jobs for those displaced by the transition. But for this to happen, we can’t rely on big businesses, who will always seek short term profits over safeguarding the environment.”
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