Union Council report
Stonewall, medicines, the IZI, and GTAs: Council Papers from the December 9th meeting.
During the last Union Council meeting, which took place on Tuesday 9th December, 2025, four papers were approved. Felix breaks down their content.
1 - ICU’s Role Supporting the Renewal of Imperial’s Stonewall Membership
Imperial has been a member of Stonewall, one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ rights organisations, since 2005. Their Proud Employers Accreditation scheme, which is distinct from membership, provides employers that subscribe with a “flexible framework” to get feedback on their LGBTQ+ policy.
Imperial is not seeking Stonewall Proud Employers accreditation this year, and, according to a source familiar with the matter, is reconsidering its membership of the organisation for the 2026-27 academic year.
This motion, authored by Ky Foo, the ICU LGBTQ+ Campaigns Officer, resolved for the Union to “lobby the university to renew the membership with Stonewall” and to set up a “Trans Rights Working Group”.
It opined that withdrawal from the Stonewall Proud Employers Membership “will reflect badly on the College”, especially to LGBTQ+ students and staff “that have been left increasingly vulnerable by the 2025 EHRC guidance”.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing equality and anti-discrimination laws in England, Scotland, and Wales, such as the 2010 Equality Act. In 2025, the UK Supreme Court ruled that “sex” in the Equality Act should be interpreted as biological sex only, and that obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) does change an individual’s legal sex.
The motion noted that subscribing to Stonewall’s membership and accreditation “does not mean Imperial necessarily subscribes to the positions that Stonewall might adopt in public debate,” as affirmed in Imperial’s Stonewall webpage.
An Imperial College London spokesperson said: "All memberships and accreditation relationships are reviewed regularly, in line with the evolving needs of our community."
2 - ICU’s Stance on Access to Medicines
This motion, authored by Rishi Miriyala Anantharaj, Universities Allied for Essential Medicines UK & Imperial Lead, seeks to ensure that patients in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) can access biomedical technology developed at Imperial.
It calls for the Union to lobby for the College to sign onto the Affordable Access Plan (AAP) – a “framework to ensure socially responsible licensing to ensure fair access to medicines” which was developed for UCLA and has since been implemented by UC Berkeley.
The APP requires licensees to submit a plan detailing how they will ensure the product they are developing will be accessible and affordable for people in LMICs.
The paper also called on the Union to “lobby for the inclusion of neglected diseases, access to medicines and global health equity on all relevant course curriculums” at Imperial.
“Research should be evaluated on global public benefit in addition to commercialisation potential,” the paper reads.
Imperial says it already implements accessible healthcare obligations for low- and middle-income countries in its licenses, in line with the requirements of research funders.
3 - Zeroing In On the Imperial Zero Index
The Imperial Zero Index (IZI) is the framework used by the College since 2025 to determine which fossil fuel companies (FFCs) it can partner with, for instance for research grants. The performance of companies is “analysed against a series of metrics” to determine if they demonstrate a commitmen to a sustainable energy transition.
The “Zeroing In On the Imperial Zero Index” paper, authored by Julia Mitra, the ICU Ethics & Environment Officer, note that while the IZI methodology and data sources are published, how the calculations are done and final values for each metric are not available to the public.
The IZI’s most important metric in forming partnerships with fossil fuel companies is the requirement for the company to be net zero by 2050. However, the paper notes that TotalEnergies, which initially fulfilled the IZI criteria, lost a lawsuit in October 2025 and consequently had to remove messaging regarding its “ambition to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.”
The Union resolved to take the position that the IZI process lacks transparency and called for the release of IZI calculations as well as disengagement with TotalEnergies.
4 - Supporting GTAs: Advocating for Employment Contracts
Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are often postgraduate research students who assist with teaching on a casual worker agreement, thus not benefitting from common employment benefits such as sick pay or protection from unfair dismissal. Furthermore, the lack of guaranteed hours of employment stability becomes an obstacle to apply for mortgages, loans, or rent. Universities such as University College London hire GTAs as full employees.
This motion, authored by Philippe de Saint-Seine, calls for fractional, open-ended employment contracts for GTAs with added benefits. The Union resolves to advocate for employment contracts for GTAs that provide stability and a focus on their academic progress and career trajectory at meetings with University Administration, and to work alongside Imperial to support GTAs in the transition to the new contracting model.
Imperial’s People team will be meeting with Imperial College Union leadership in the coming weeks to better understand their position on contracts for Graduate Teaching Assistants and explore potential approaches that balance the needs of GTAs with operational requirements.
More about the Union Council
The Union Council consists of most of Imperial’s elected student representatives, assembled to set the set the policy of Imperial College Union. It provides oversight of the Union’s activities and keeps it accountable. The Council’s next meetings, which are open to all students, will be held from 18:00-20:00 on the following Tuesdays:
- February 10th (Huxley 341/342)
- March 17th (RSM G41)
- May 26th (RSM G41)
- June 9th (Huxley 341/342)
