Mary Senior is the Scotland Official of the University and College Union (UCU), the trade union representing 110,000 academic and related members in post-16 education across the UK, and the largest union in the higher education sector in Scotland.

Mary leads the union’s bargaining, campaigning and organising work in Scotland; notably taking forward UCU’s campaign to democratise university governance, resulting in the Higher Education (Scotland) Governance Act 2016; and leading the union’s work to eradicate casual worker contracts within the university sector.

Mary is a member of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) General Council, and a board member of Workplace Chaplaincy Scotland.

Prior to joining UCU, Mary worked for the STUC where she led the trade union organisation’s equality and international work, including chairing the groundbreaking Close the Gap gender pay partnership; representing trade union women on the Scottish Women’s Convention; and campaigning against the detention of refugee and asylum seeking children and families.

Originally from the West Midlands, Mary is a graduate of the University of Sheffield, and has lived in the west of Scotland for over 20 years