- Conference
- 2024 Local Government Service Group Conference
- Date
- 19 February 2024
- Decision
- Carried
Conference knows that stress and mental health problems are commonplace in many modern workplaces, including in colleges. Stress makes people nearly three times as likely to leave their jobs, temporarily impairs strategic thinking and dulls creative abilities.
In the 2023 UNISON Keeping in Touch survey, members reported that their number one concern was stress and anxiety that was brought on by their work. They reported being unable to switch off at home, having sleep problems, poor physical health, strain on their relationships and lower productivity. And yet, every employer tells us that they have policies and procedures for dealing with stress. But where is the evidence that any individual perks, such as wellness sessions or on-site gyms, work effectively to reduce long-term stress?
Stress in the workplace needs to be tackled at source. Support staff need fair and decent pay, fair treatment and respect, job security, learning and progression and healthy workplaces.
We have a wealth of resources available, developed over many years, to support our members and all UNISON negotiators look to secure policies that support staff who are experiencing poor mental health, stress anxiety and depression. What needs to happen now is a focus on making work in colleges something to look forward to in the morning, not something that we learn to cope with. 63% of respondents to our survey told us that their level of job satisfaction had declined in the past year. All of the pay claims submitted across FE have sought some element of workload and/or wellbeing improvements. This good work must continue and be accompanied by a deeper focus on the need for good, well-paid work in the college sector to ensure that support staff have jobs they are genuinely enthused by and afford them a good standard of living.
Conference therefore calls on the Service Group Executive to:
1) Develop a campaign around making the college sector an engaging and rewarding place to work;
2) Ensure that tackling workload is a part of every pay claim;
3) Work with the TUC/WTUC/STUC/ICTU on the ‘Great Jobs Agenda’.