- Conference
- 2022 Virtual Higher Education Conference
- Date
- 14 October 2021
- Decision
- Carried
Conference moves that, since the introduction of the Trade Union Act, our union and the Service Group Executive has failed to adapt to the changing dynamics of the need to win 50% turnouts. We have seen ballots fail to reach the required threshold to undertake lawful industrial action and this has created a legacy of real terms pay cuts and pay freezes.
Conference believes that our strategy has failed and the move to disaggregated ballots has removed our branches from the collective strength of our Service Group. Indeed, instead of a union of 50,000 HE members, we now are a union of individual branches and the employers are taking advantage. Employers now know where our branches are weak and where we are strong and this has impacted bargaining positions and is impacting on branch campaigns across the board.
It is important to note that we failed to win ballots under an aggregated model but conference also notes that, under the current disaggregated strategy, fewer than 10 branches were able to return a 50% turnout in recent ballots.
The recent move from Universities and Colleges Employers’ Association (UCEA) to review New JNCHES (New Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff), and the noises from members of the UCEA Board, make it apparent that the employers intend to press their advantage and attack central, national pay bargaining. We, alongside our sister HE trades unions, have the power to stop this but only if we maximise our strengths and minimise our weaknesses.
This conference believes our current position is untenable and, if we are unable to hold employers to account and win on pay, we will lose members and our power to ensure our members are paid fairly. The attack on central pay bargaining must be stopped.
Conference calls upon the Service Group Executive to do the following:
1)Hold a complete, honest, and thorough review of our Pay and Industrial Action Strategy involving branches and lay members. This should also seek the experiences of other Higher Education (HE) Trades Unions as well as other UNISON Service Groups and sections.
2)Hold workshops and other activities to inform this review in the HE Branch Seminar with the aim of having a relentless focus on getting our strategy right, effective, and fit for purpose.
3)Identify the most appropriate method of balloting on national HE pay offers and on other ballots. This should be done on a case-by-case basis, removing the dogmas of ‘one strategy will fit all occasions’.