- Conference
- 2025 National Higher Education Conference
- Date
- 10 October 2024
- Decision
- Carried
Conference is opposed to the hostile environment and to political and legislative attacks by politicians against migrant workers, refugees and asylum seekers. Conference asserts that it stands with migrant workers in the workplace and beyond.
Conference condemns all forms of hostility to those seeking a better life elsewhere. The riots in the summer of 2024 were whipped up by reactionary politicians, who offer no solutions to the poor and disenfranchised, other than blaming all of society’s problems on others. Conference is clear that fully funded public services, access to housing, education and healthcare for all can be fought for and achieved, and that this is a better solution than division and hatred.
Higher Education has been the target of attacks by politicians, both in restrictions and punitive measures against international students, and those which affect staff. Whether it’s workers on skilled worker visas or low paid members in outsourced services, government policies on no recourse to public funds, hikes to visa fees and the health surcharge, salary thresholds and more have all had a devastating effect on people’s lives.
Conference welcomes the work done at all levels by UNISON to respond to this challenge, especially by branches and activists to challenge exploitation and injustice, support migrant worker members from destitution and the threat of deportation. This work has been supported by the provision of free immigration advice through the helpline run by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI). This service has supported members dealing with the hostile environment, ever-changing immigration rules, employers using visa conditions to exploit workers and more. It has also supported branches and activists dealing with complex immigration rules affecting workplace rights. The UNISON charity ‘There for you’ has also played an invaluable role in supporting members who have been left in poverty due to the UK’s immigration rules.
Conference also welcomes the launch of a new migrant worker network, a new informal network which enables the union to improve our communication with migrant worker members and strengthen our organising and recruitment activity. This is vital to building an organising and bargaining agenda that responds to the priorities of all our members.
In order to support this work Conference believes it is critical for branches to map their migrant worker members. Identifying where our migrant worker members are located and the visas they are on will allow key resources and targeted advice to be developed. Surveys of our migrant worker members will enable better identification of what should be on our trade union agenda.
Conference therefore calls upon the Higher Education Service group to:
1)Support the work of branches and regions mapping and surveying our migrant worker members;
2)Produce resources and advice to support our campaigning and negotiating agenda;
3)Promote awareness of the free JCWI immigration advice helpline for UNISON members;
4)Campaign to improve the rights of migrant workers, working with the union’s migrant worker network;
5)Campaign to dismantle the Hostile Environment.