Higher education staff have ‘yet again kept the sector going’

HE national conference hears that members’ COVID sacrifices were ‘in stark contrast’ to the behaviour of government

UNISON’s higher education members met today for their first national conference since before the start of the pandemic. They gathered, virtually, to discuss a host of challenges facing their members – not least those related to their pay and pensions.

Chairing the conference, UNISON vice-president Kath Owen said: “The pandemic has shown the extent to which the country relies on public sector workers, keeping society functioning, and higher education workers keeping the universities functioning.

“And I know each and every one of you will have made your own incredible contribution during this most difficult of times.”

Mobina Begum, chair of the higher education (HE) service group executive (pictured above), said that the last national conference in 2020 “feels like a lifetime ago”.

Moving the annual report for 2021, Ms Begum continued: “We never imagined that international students would be stranded in the UK or not allowed into the UK.

“That all lessons would be online and that our cleaners, caterers and security staff would be supporting students isolating in their bedrooms.

“I’m immensely proud of all of the work done by all of our members in public services, in schools, colleges and nurseries and, of course, in universities.

“University support staff have, yet again, kept the sector going. We have kept students and colleagues safe, we have enabled teaching and research to continue. We have continued to register students, clean the labs, set up study skills, run the libraries.

“And alongside all of this we have moved our campaigns, our negotiations and our case work online. UNISON university activists and representatives across the UK have worked throughout the pandemic to get the best deals for our members. And I’m so proud of that.”

Among many achievements, she commended the fact that UNISON members had ensured universities had risk assessments fit for purpose in the pandemic, and for appropriate safety measures to be in place.

And despite today’s conference remaining online, she said: “We have shown that we can, and do, adapt quickly. And we won’t go away.

“We’re here and we’re still making a noise, still fighting for what we care about – about decent employment, about fairness at work. Fighting against discrimination, harassment and bullying at work. Fighting for equality, respect, decent pay, terms and conditions.”

Ms Begum cited “significant challenges” ahead, on pay, achieving equality in the sector, on protecting pensions and protecting jobs. And the union is still awaiting the government’s proposals following the Augar Report on post-18 education and funding.

And she added: “We will rise to these challenges together.”

Jon Richards (above), UNISON assistant general secretary and former head of education, also reflected on the pandemic. “When we stand back in years to come and survey the COVID catastrophe, which the prime minister is currently trying to cover up, we’ll look back and be proud of the way workers in higher education adapted – how you and your colleagues put in amazing efforts to keep universities going.

“And we will recognise how much personal sacrifice was involved – sacrifice that was in stark contrast to the behaviour of the UK government.

“Never mind the secret parties in Downing Street. The real scandals were the wasted billions of pounds on faulty protective equipment, inadequate financial support for low-paid workers asked to self isolate, failed crisis management for low-paid workers, a pick-and-mix  approach to scientific evidence, all overloaded by failures to protect the most vulnerable.”

On pay, Mr Richards said that the current and next year’s pay rounds were crucial, “as we try to get the employers to deal with the scourge of poor pay in universities.”

He praised members in the nine universities who are planning to take strike action on the current year’s pay offer, saying that the union “stands full square in solidarity behind them”.

And he urged the employers to change their tune over pay. “We can see across public services that workers are leaving to get better paid jobs in the private sector. And so the HE employers will shoot themselves in the foot if they don’t cough up.”

Delegates also heard solidarity from National Union of Students president Larissa Kennedy (below), in a passionate online message.

Noting that last year saw the biggest wave of rent strikes in the history of the student movement, Ms Kennedy said that the “the acute injustices” of how students and staff have been treated throughout the pandemic were “indicative of a system that’s rotting at its core”, one that was governed by the marketisation of universities.

“So the motivations for us coming together are so so clear. We want students to be seen as people, not as pound signs. We want all of you, our staff in higher education, to be recognised and properly remunerated for the work that you do.

“Ultimately, no-one looks back on their time in higher education and says, ‘Wow, my vice chancellor was amazing’. We look back and we think about the people in our communities who have shaped our journeys, who have pushed us, who have made us into who we are now. And that is all of the staff at our universities.”