- Conference
- 2021 Virtual Special Local Government Service Group Conference
- Date
- 6 April 2021
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes that many branches are struggling to represent members in schools, particularly in those schools which have become academies. Both local authorities and the academy chains are putting restrictions on local authority employed staff representing members employed in academies.
This has resulted in many reps using their own time to represent members, sometimes even using their annual leave to do this.
The pandemic has also led many schools to restrict access to visitors to schools, including trade union reps. We must ensure that schools are not able to maintain this as a pretext for restricting access to schools when the health crisis is over.
Conference recognises the need to organise our members in schools effectively and to ensure that stewards in schools are able to participate fully in union activities.
The pandemic has also seen branches increase the use of technology as a means of communicating with their members. Facility agreements in schools may need to be updated to ensure that they include continued access to video conferencing technology for trade union purposes.
We need to ensure that all stand alone academies and Multi Academy Trusts (MATs) are covered by and have a functioning trade union facilities agreement that provides sufficient facility time for school based reps.
Conference notes that the Service Group Executive (SGE) has recently undertaken a survey of facility time in local authorities. The results of this survey can be used to develop a strategy to improve facility time arrangements in schools.
Conference calls on the SGE to:
1)Provide guidance to branches on negotiating adequate facility time in schools;
2)Re-circulate the model recognition agreements for academies;
3)Encourage regions to ensure that arrangements are in place to represent all members working in schools;
4)Work with the other education unions to ensure that all academies are covered by a relevant facilities agreement.