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 […]
Conference notes that in November 2021 the UK hosted the COP 26 in Glasgow. At this COP the UK again committed itself to achieving Net Zero by 2050 which itself is a statutory target which the UK Government should be working towards achieving. UNISON energy workers know already that achieving Net Zero will be hard […]
Conference notes that as a result of rapidly increasing wholesale gas prices, the price of energy for consumers and businesses in the UK has also significantly increased. Further it notes that the energy price cap which regulates the default tariffs has been increased by some 54% by the energy regulator OFGEM. This is the tariff […]
Research shows that at GCSE level engagement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects has a broadly similar gender split. At this level female students are achieving higher or equal average A*-C grades compared to males. At A Level this drops off with a higher number of males taking up STEM subjects, for example […]
Conference picture someone working in the energy sector, and you are likely to mentally summon up an image of a white, middle-aged male. Although a lack of diversity isn’t unique to energy, it is an issue that needs solving. While the situation is improving, it’s not changing fast enough, recent events have rightly woken up […]
We are at a defining moment when it comes to climate change. Its impacts are global in scope and unparalleled. Climate change will affect every one of us on the planet, but its effects will not be the same for all. Greta Thunberg’s school strikes and climate strikes supported by the Trade Union movement are […]
Conference notes that in the past two years through a confluence of multiple crises including a global pandemic, a massive shift in the economy, and rising unjust violence against the Black Community, that Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Plus (LGBT+) young people everywhere faced issues that changed their lives. Unfortunately, we’ve seen these issues negatively impact […]
Conference notes that even before the pandemic mental health and stress at work were among the leading issues raised by young workers. Conference notes that the pandemic has only exacerbated young workers’ concerns about mental health, whether that is due to working in stressful conditions on the front line, or due to isolation from friends, […]
Conference notes addressing the climate change challenge requires a fundamental restructuring of the energy supply sector, moving away from the world�s fossil fuel-based system to one that relies on clean, renewable sources. The transition to a greener economy requires new skills. Skills needed for the newly emerging jobs, and skills needed for the adjusted existing […]
This conference notes that the health, safety and wellbeing of workers providing services in the Water, Environment and Transport Sectors � as well as in the other more prominent sectors such as Health – has been paramount to UNISON during the COVID-19 pandemic, and will continue to be into the future. The Water Industry Sector […]
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. […]
Conference notes that many energy members work in call centres and operational centres where they take calls from operational colleagues and customers. While most callers are reasonable, there is always a proportion that are unreasonable and some who are extremely abusive. In workplaces with generally high levels of stress, this can be intolerable. People who […]