University Finance – we must take an interest and be vigilant

Conference in the light of the Browne Review of Higher Education finance and the Comprehensive Spending Review it was reported that HEIs will have to be very quick on its feet to avoid serious financial problems and potential bankruptcy as the cuts take effect and the impact of higher fees become apparent. Conference every year […]

Excessive Workloads

Conference notes that in this current climate of Government cuts resulting in a reduction to services and jobs, professional support staff are experiencing many challenges within the workforce. Since 2008 government funding cuts have become more savage; ministers have publicly called for more to be done for less across the entire public sector and specifically […]

Equality for higher education workers when universities go international

Conference notes that universities are responding to restrictive border regulations, which damages their intake of international students, by opening campuses abroad and having collaborations with overseas universities. Many more are likely to join this trend. The universities and science minister has previously appealed to private investors to support overseas expansion for UK universities and stated […]

Working in HE – The Hidden Costs

This Conference understands that recent pay awards in Higher Education have meant that many UNISON members working in this Sector are experiencing a decline in the standard of living for themselves and their families. Conference recognises that the real terms pay cut staff are facing is an issue in itself, but that UNISON members in […]

Equality for trans workers in our higher education institutions

Conference notes with concern that transphobia and bullying and harassment of trans people is still far too commonplace in workplaces and society, including in our higher education institutions (HEIs). A recent Government Equalities Office survey found that nearly half of trans employees experienced discrimination or harassment in their workplaces and 88% said that ignorance of […]

A Time to Change in Higher Education

Conference is aware that many people are affected by mental health conditions. It is concerning that nearly nine out of ten people who experience them say they face stigma and discrimination as a result. In supporting members, our activists have noted that many Higher Education employers are neither aware of nor prepared to support staff […]

Impact of restructuring and outsourcing on young workers

This conference believes that recent restructurings (such as at Middlesex University which has seen the creation of centralised student services, combining the services from 4 campuses into one) and outsourcing exercises, mean that many ‘entry-level’ jobs are severely reduced or disappear altogether. It is also often the case that these jobs are the first to […]

Low proportion of Black people in Senior Management Positions in Higher Education

Conference notes that in the UK there are 168 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Research conducted by the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) reports that Black people represents 8.6 per cent of higher education academic staff and 6.9 per cent of professional support staff. Conference is aware that in the UK the Higher Education context has changed […]

Poverty Pay Doesn’t Pay – the Living Wage in Higher Education

Conference applauds the successful implementation of the Living Wage that has been achieved at Exeter University, Wolverhampton University and Loughborough University amongst many. At Exeter University, the Students Guild has also agreed to implement the Living Wage which demonstrates that being a Living Wage employer is also about applying the same standard to services that […]

Zero hours contracts

Conference notes that as part of the general attack on staff terms and conditions that has accompanied the intensification of privatisation and cuts to funding across the public sector, employers including universities have increasingly been turning to zero hours contracts. Under these contracts, an individual typically undertakes to be available for work but the employer […]

Privatisation and Shared Services in Higher Education

Conference notes the continued promotion of shared services and privatisation of higher education by the Coalition Government. Evidence from the outsourcing and marketisation of public services suggests that in many cases additional costs are incurred and, increasingly, public sector organisations are looking to in-source services in order to achieve greater efficiency and better value for […]

Zero-Hour Contracts & Agency Workers

This Higher Education Conference notes: 1)The brilliant win by Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) Wigan Hovis workers against zero-hour contracts and the mistreatment of agency workers. 2)UNISON’s view that “zero hours contracts are not compatible with developing a professional workforce delivering quality services”. 3)Under the UK’s regulations which came into force in 2011, […]

JNCHES Pay 2014/15

Conference welcomes the decision by UNISON’s Higher Education Service Group Executive (HESGE) to ballot members on the 2013/14 pay offer and the decision by members to take industrial action to substantially improve the offer. Conference believes that our fight for fair pay and conditions is part of UNISON’s fight against austerity and for an alternative […]

Freedom of Information Requests

This conference calls on the Higher Education Service Group to lead and coordinate a systematic programme of submitting Freedom of Information requests to all relevant Higher Education institutions to identify the value of salary and wider reward packages offered to that institution’s senior management. Information gained should then be made available to local branches and […]

Increasing the number of Black staff within Universities working in Support, Academic and Management Roles

Conference notes with concern that lack of Black workers within Higher Education. Research carried out by the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) noted that only 8.6% of academic staff and 6.9% of support staff self-defined as Black. There are only 2 Black Vice Chancellors in the UK despite there being 168 UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). […]