Our members include librarians, registrars, people working in personnel, IT and finance departments, teaching assistants, technicians, early years (nursery) staff, policy advisors, administrators, secretaries, cleaners, caretakers, school meals workers, craft workers, porters working in schools, children's services, colleges and universities.
School Support Staff Seminar, 24 May 2012 - apply now
UNISON National School Support Staff Seminar, 24th May 2012, Harrogate - places still available, apply now.
Save Our Sure Start campaign
UNISON is working with the Daycare Trust to save our Sure Start Children's Centres. Reductions in central government funding and the removal of the ring fence for Sure Start Centres are leading to cuts the services and the closure of some centres in 2011. We have also seen some councils transfer the services to the private and voluntary sector to try and save money.
UNISON Advice to Branches and Schools on Careers Guidance
Our careers professionals are vital to ensuring all young people get the good advice they need to make well-informed, thought-through choices and plans that enable them to progress smoothly into further learning and work, now and in the future. Effective careers advice and support is key to improving social mobility and reducing inequality by helping those from disadvantaged backgrounds to raise their horizons and by giving them the support they need to fulfil their potential. UNISON believes that universal, all-age service providing consistent, comprehensive advice including face to face guidance by careers professionals is essential to the future of our young people and the economy. This has to include face to face guidance.
Section 29 of the Education Act 2011 places schools under a duty to secure access to independent careers guidance for their pupils in school years 9-11. This applies to secondary schools, special schools and PRUs. Academies and Free Schools will be subject to the same requirements through their Funding Agreements . Careers guidance secured under the new duty must be presented in an impartial manner; include information on the full range of post-16 education or training options, including Apprenticeships; and promote the best interests of the pupils to whom it is given. UNISON recommends for reasons of consistency, quality, coherence and stability that schools are encouraged to collectively procure a careers advice service and that this be co–ordinated by Local Authorities. A collective approach by schools for a careers service is preferable to individual bids. This will lead to cost benefits and ensure consistency and coherence in the quality of the careers advice being given to schools. It will also be of benefit to the careers professionals as it will promote stability and consistency within the profession.
Report on 2012/13 FE pay negotiations - England
(22/5/12) There has been an ominous start to this year’s negotiationsHigher Education Pay 2012/13 Latest
The second meeting of the 2012/13 JNCHES pay negotiations took place on 20 April. The discussion focussed on the real terms loss in pay that staff have suffered over the last three settlements and how the union demands for a living wage for all staff in higher education could be addressed.
The employers responded by improving their initial offer of 0.5% on all pay points to 0.8%. They also agreed to have further discussions with the UCEA Board on the living wage.
All the higher education unions have rejected the offer. The offer fails to match the increases in the cost of living, let alone address the fall over the last three years. We believe a further increase is affordable, as universities posted record surpluses last year.
A final meeting of JNCHES will take place on 22 May. We will update branches with any developments.
