Conference recognises that adequate facility time, with backfill, to undertake both union duties and union activities is vital to effectively organise and represent members in councils and schools at local, regional and national levels. Conference notes that facility time has come under persistent attack since 2010, due to a combination of factors. Some local government […]
Conference motions
Conference notes that: 1)The Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) pays pensions to widows of male scheme members in respect of contributions since 1972 or, in some cases, 1978; 2)As a result of a Supreme Court decision in 2017, the Walker case, LGPS members’ surviving same-sex spouses and civil partners, irrespective of gender, are now treated […]
Conference notes that the Prevent strategy, created in 2003 and made a statutory duty in 2015, is hailed as a tool to tackle radicalisation and extremism at an early point. Staff in colleges question how the duty is interpreted and applied in colleges due to serious concerns and weaknesses in its implementation. One concern with […]
Conference notes that our members employed in England, Wales and Northern Ireland by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) work tirelessly to ensure the public eats safe and clean meat, dairy and seafood. Their pay, terms and conditions need urgent improvement to reward that commitment. Conference also notes the contributions FSA members and those employed as […]
Conference knows that collective bargaining was a hard-won right by workers and that we need to constantly fight to protect this right. Collective bargaining at national level has been a feature of the education sector for many years and it is something to be proud of. FE colleges in England have not had binding national […]
Conference commends the work carried out by local government service group members working in care across the UK despite the many continued challenges and pressures that they face. Conference recognises that despite the differences in the delivery of social care throughout the UK, UNISON’s own National Care Service campaign represents a clear vision for the […]
Despite colleges educating 1.7 million students each year, further education is all too often overlooked by the government. Research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies has clearly shown that colleges lost out more than other education sectors during the austerity decade from 2010. Despite claims funding has increased, college spending per student in 2024 will […]
Conference notes that UNISON has declared 2023 the Year of Black Workers (YofBW2023). This conference notes that whilst 2023 is the Year of Black Workers, and its focus of ‘Establishing legacy to generate change’, this year in and of itself is not the change we seek, it is merely the opportunity to generate change. Black […]
Conference notes that in December the Department for Education (DfE) announced that funding to local authorities in England for supported early years places would increase by an average of 3.4% for three and four year olds and by 4% for two year olds. However, some local authorities will only receive less than a 1% increase […]
This conference notes that: 1) This Tory government is once again seeking to make public sector workers pay for the latest economic crisis by restricting public sector pay even further when the cost of living continues to rise; 2) Prior to the latest cost of living crisis, pay across local government had fallen in real […]
Conference believes that everyone deserves to be paid a real living wage. We call upon the National Higher Education Service Group Executive to ensure that in the next round of The New Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff (JNCHES) negotiations a pay spine is proposed and promoted by UNISON representatives in which the lowest […]
Universities are autonomous organisations, delivering higher education and research, with the freedom to manage their own finances, subject to regulation. Each institution is different, with a complex mix of income streams depending on the nature of the students it teaches, the quantity and perceived quality of research it conducts to drive research income, and the […]
Higher education pay has fallen behind. Since 2009 our pay has lost around 28% of its value as a result of below inflation cost-of-living rises year on year. The extreme increase in prices during 2022 has brought this to a crisis point, and UNISON members working in Higher Education are facing real hardship as a […]
Conference notes the success of UNISON’s Year of Disabled Workers 2022. Throughout the year we saw renewed focus on the experience of disabled members in our union, in the workplace and in society, including those in the Higher Education service group. We used the year to highlight the important contribution our disabled members make to […]
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) gives people the right to request information from universities. The Act aims to promote a culture of transparency and accountability, and therefore facilitate better understanding of how the universities carry out their duties, why they make the decisions they do, and how they spend public money and that […]