‘We are a force for good,’ UNISON’s university activists hear

Service group chair Denise Ward opens union’s higher ed conference with call to build strength

“Unions have brought about many of the positive changes in higher education,” Denise Ward told UNISON higher education activists at the service group conference in Chester this morning.

Moving the annual report at the start of the conference, Ms Ward, who chairs the service group executive, declared: “We are a force for good.”

But, she told delegates, “we need to build our membership so we are a force to be reckoned with.”

In particular, she said that UNISON in universities needs to campaign for pay that “catches up and keeps up,” in line with UNISON’s national Pay Up Now! campaign.

Speaking to activists from across the union and across the UK, Ms Ward vowed to continue building the pay campaign, adding: “We are at our best when we work together.”