A CALL for a university to cancel a partnership agreement made with an arms manufacturer passed at the annual conference of the Northern region of the TUC on Saturday, but met strong opposition.

Newcastle Trade Union Council delegate Ron Brown, supported by the University and College Union (UCU), said the University of Northumbria planned to create a “world-leading” space science centre with Lockheed Martin – the world’s biggest weapons manufacturer.

He said Lockheed’s F35 fighter-bomber jets, which the firm classed as “the most lethal in the world,” were being used by Israel on its continuing attacks on Gaza.

“After October 7 [it] rushed components and parts to Israel,” he said, accusing Lockheed Martin of “making massive profits out of genocide.”

UCU delegate and branch chairman Matt Perry said that thousands of students and teachers had been killed in Gaza, and he condemned the partnership with Lockheed as a “vanity project” in a university which was closing down some of its teaching provision and sacking staff.

Martin Levy of Tyne and Wear County Association of Trade Union Councils, a former lecturer, quoted universities and organisations which had stood against war in the past, including Scottish workers’ refusal to maintain and repair jet engines for the Chilean military regime in the 1970s.

“This is not about Lockheed Martin. It is about higher education institutions,” he said. 

The motion was opposed by Unite, which represents many workers in the arms industry.

Delegate Suzanne Reed said: “Unite’s principle is that we put the interests of our members first – the protection and advancement of our members’ interests at work. “

The motion was carried with 34 votes in favour, 27 against and 21 abstentions.

In Japan and Germany, peace campaigners have for decades fought for universities to agree “civil clauses” that ban conducting research for military purposes.