UCU Scotland was very sorry to hear of the death of Angi Lamb. Angi was a former UCU branch president at Edinburgh University and honorary secretary of UCU Scotland. UCU Scotland past president Ann Gow has written the tribute to Angi below:
Like all her family and friends, UCU & the trade union movement has lost a wonderful colleague in Angi. So many of us were privileged to work with Angi in AUT and then UCU, locally and nationally. It is testament to Angi’s razor sharp wit and quiet compassion as well as her commitment and dedication to the trade union movement that so many of her colleagues became her friend. We feel her loss deeply.
This year UCU Scotland nominated Angi for a Distinguished Service Award and were delighted that she was awarded it. Sadly, we never got the chance to congratulate and applaud her at Congress but it gives us some comfort to know that Angi knew how much her UCU colleagues valued her.
Angi was a dedicated and committed activist with over 40 years active trade union service spanning four universities. She had an extraordinary commitment to education and her community as well as to the wider trade union movement. Locally, she undertook extensive case work and mentored numbers of new caseworkers. She was the first woman president of Edinburgh UCU from 2007-2009, leading on all negotiations representing 6000+ staff. But it was equality that Angi worked particularly hard to push higher up the agenda. She used her talent for data as a basis for negotiations around Gender Pay specifically, moving management to develop an Equal Pay action plan and drive policies around maternity leave, promotion and recruitment.
Angi blazed a trail for union membership of University governance through her role on Court (first as staff representative and then as the Rector’s Assessor), and established a direct connection between the Joint Union Liaison Committee and the Rector, ensuring that the Rector really did represent both staff and students (as is their role at the University of Edinburgh). Her work on implementing the Governance Act locally has ensured Trade Union voices are heard at all levels and the impact has been seen on work on casualisation, gender pay and disability access.
Angi never stopped campaigning, even into her retirement and after her diagnosis. Even in the Western General in December, she was in full campaigning mode. WiFi was hopeless in the hospital for most people and she had approached the Principal of University of Edinburgh to improve it. There were more campaigns on her agenda – one for better GP action for cancer diagnosis and on access to medical cannabis. She approached these campaigns as always, from the data. Angi had looked at the stats and discovered that lung cancer kills more women in Scotland than breast cancer. She was determined that her work would help others. Angi has helped so many people, by supporting staff in personal case work to negotiations that improved the lot for many. Her legacy will live on through her work.
In a recent conversation Angi said she was not afraid of dying but she wanted to do so much more still. We have never known anyone so serene in the face of adversity. We will honour her work and campaigns, always striving to reflect her measured, quiet but rather forceful style of trade unionism.
UCU scotland 