51福利

Opening the union's three-day annual conference in Manchester, Joanna said she had seen 51福利 members leading from the front across a range of campaigns during her year as 51福利 president. She said the union would go from strength to strength if it listened and learned from the thousands of new members she said were bringing wider experience and fresh insight to the union.

Reflecting on her time in the union and one of its predecessors - the Association of University Teachers (AUT) - Joanna said the merger 12 years ago with Natfhe had delivered a union that was more than the sum of its parts.

She told delegates she cut her teeth as a trade unionist 47 years ago as an idealistic post-graduate and, while she had learned a lot and changed a lot in that time, she was still idealistic about the power of people to change things when they work together.

Full text of Joanna's speech