For too many years now it seems that the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) are neither able nor willing to negotiate with the unions in good faith. It appears that perhaps UCEA is acting as an arm of the Conservative Government, representing year after year of increasingly austerity for staff working in Higher Education. […]
Conference motions
Despite the Equal Pay Act coming into force over 50 years ago, there remains a persistent gender pay gap on university campuses across the United Kingdom. According to the Times Higher Education (THE), the mean pay gap in Higher Education in 2020 – 2021 was 14.8% which was higher than the UK average of 11.3%. […]
Conference believes it is time that Universities actively participated in 4-day work week trials. Universities are centres of research and innovation and many want to be ‘employers of choice’ (employers that people actively want to work for). They are the perfect institutions to try new approaches to work. Findings suggest that a 4-day week enhances […]
Raising the profile of Black activists and increasing the number of Black members involved in Higher Education establishments at branch, regional and national levels within the union is critical in meeting UNISON’s recruitment and organising objectives. Conference notes that UNISON has developed a Leadership School where activists can take steps to develop their leadership skills […]
2019 marks ten years of the erosion in real terms, take home pay, the pay of the majority of Higher Education support staff. If pay had risen in line with the cost of living, then each pound that university support staff earn in 2019/20, would be worth twenty one pence more than it actually is. […]
The abolition of the NHS bursary in England took effect on 1 August 2017. The 2017 Health Conference called on the Health Service Executive Group to “monitor the quality of placements if there are additional training places” among other things. Conference notes that the finalisation of the funding arrangements for clinical placements in England happened […]
Conference notes that NHS Employers are moving more towards agile working. The argument for implementing agile working is to increase productivity and to save money in the face of massive Cost Improvement Programmes forced on to NHS organisations. Conference understands that where agile working is implemented and driven as a measure to cut costs it […]
Bucks Health Care & Community has recognised that there is an inequality in pay banding across the NHS. Many NHS workers are doing similar roles in trusts for different pay; these differences can even be in neighbouring NHS Trusts. The inequality in pay banding becomes more apparent when the job role does not fit the […]
Conference believes that there is an inherent unfairness in the way in which our universities are being run, and the way in which the most senior staff are being rewarded whilst UNISON members and staff working in support services are paying the price. Recent research in the Guardian revealed that among 17 university heads who […]
UNISON Health Conference notes: 1)The alarming news that the government is encouraging councils to increase council tax in an attempt to fund massive funding gap in health and social care provision. 2)The King’s Fund has reported that the share of GDP spent on health has dropped from 8.8% in 2009, to 7.3% in 2014/15, and […]
Conference notes that across the UK there are a number of current initiatives seeking to bring about service transformation. These include, but are not limited to, Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) in England, the ten year vision for health and social care based on the Bengoa report in Northern Ireland, and further moves towards more […]
This Conference notes that NHS pay has not kept up with the cost of living. With a fall in pay of approximately 10-12% many regions are having major staffing and recruitment problems. Especially in London and the South East where the cost of living tends to be much higher. For example, Oxfordshire is the most […]
In today’s climate, within the NHS, changes are constantly happening to turn it into a profit making business, and mergers, staff reductions, and other distressing actions have all occurred. Consultations with staff appear to take place on an ad-hoc basis and lack full and meaningful discussions and negotiation. Staff experience new challenges on an almost […]
UNISON takes pride in being a member-led, democratic union. It is in this spirit that conference notes with concern the decision taken by our Higher Education Service Group Executive (HESGE) to overturn the democratic decision taken by our members in the 2016 ballot over pay. This decision also overturned the mandate set at this conference […]
Conference notes that members in Higher Education have lost the equivalent of between £1,585 and £8,248 over the last six years, while at the same time having to deliver a professional service despite severe cuts, redundancies, reorganisations and increased workloads. Members continue to carry out their duties even though their pay has failed to keep […]