The Truth about Finances in the HE Sector

Every year, UCEA representing the employers in the HE sector pay negotiations, state that while some universities are wealthy, there are universities that would struggle, indeed may be forced into considering redundancies, the closure of departments and so on, should a significant pay settlement be forced upon them. For this reason, staff salaries have been […]

Fair Pay for Higher Education Staff in 2024-25

Higher Education pay has fallen behind. Since 2009 our pay has lost around 28% of its value as a result of successive below inflation cost-of-living rises, year on year. The extreme increase in prices during 2022 and 2023 has brought this to a crisis point, and UNISON members working in Higher Education are facing real […]

Its not just that national pay bargaining hasn’t kept pace with inflation

University staff at all grades on the agreed pay scale have seen the value put on their work diminish year after year, not by some form of “natural process”, not by erosion or gravity, but by deliberate choices made year on year by the people running the universities: they pay us less, as the sectors […]

Local settlements alongside the national pay bargaining

It is clear that while UCEA as a group are doggedly refusing to admit there is a problem with pay in the sector – and given that UCEA members / advisors are getting their information from employees “over the top of the national pay scale” perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised – individual HEIs are increasingly […]

Securing the Legacy of the Year of Black Workers in Higher Education

This conference notes that the Year of Black Workers, and its focus of ‘Establishing Legacy to Generate Change’, is not the change we seek, it is merely the opportunity to generate change. Black Workers across our society often find themselves in low-paid, insecure work, with poor terms and conditions. Despite the Westminster Government denying that […]

Time to Smash the Gender Pay Gap in Higher Education

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%. […]

Making hybrid workplaces more accessible for Deaf workers

Conference notes that since the Covid-19 pandemic there has been a massive shift to hybrid working, with many of our members now splitting their time between home working and the workplace. This has resulted in benefits to many disabled workers who can manage their impairment better at home, with short breaks and more flexible start […]

Making police services accessible to Deaf people

Conference notes that some police services in the UK have specialised Police Link Officer with Deaf People (PLOD). This has helped to make police services more accessible to Deaf people in some areas but it remains a post code lottery without a consistent service in all parts of the UK. Turn-over of staff also means […]

Progression for all – Black disabled workers can’t be left behind

Conference notes that despite the significant numbers of Black workers in the frontline work force, they are disproportionately underrepresented in managerial and senior levels within their departments and tend to be concentrated in the lower levels. Some commentators point to the ways in which institutional racism continues to play a key role in Black workers’ […]

Sickle Cell Disease needs to be taken seriously

Conference believes that Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is an impairment that must be taken seriously. SCD affects millions of individuals globally and significantly impacts their quality of life. SCD is an inherited blood disorder that affects the production of red blood cells, causing them to be abnormally crescent-shaped and prone to blockages in blood vessels. […]

Women and neurodiversity in the workplace

Conference notes that neurodiverse women still fail to get the support they need in the workplace because of out-dated and sexist stereotypes. Conference further notes that UNISON subscribes to the social model of disability and as such we focus on breaking down barriers and identifying ways of changing the working environment to make it accessible […]

The BSL GCSE: A route to tackling the Deaf employment gap

Conference notes that disabled peopled face barriers to employment. 2022 figures show that 53.3% of disabled people were in work compared to 81.9% for non-disabled people. This gives a shocking “disability employment gap” of 28.5%. Although official government figures do not record the employment gap for Deaf native British Sign Language (BSL) users specifically, a […]

Inclusive chairs groups that represent the members that we serve

UNISON is a growing union that strongly believes in equality, diversity, inclusion and equity and we maximise the benefits of this to increase our bargaining and campaigning strength. We recruit and encourage activism from members of all backgrounds. Despite this, many chairs of national committees, including self organised groups and service group executive chairs, do […]

The `Health and Disability’ white paper; an attack on disabled people’s income and independence

Conference notes the publication of “Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper”, published by government in March 2023. The government claims this new set of policies related to welfare benefits will help more disabled people and people with health conditions to start, stay and succeed in work. However, conference believes the opposite is true […]

Next steps for our work on the Disability Employment Charter

Conference is proud that UNISON is one of the founding members of the Disability Employment Charter which now has 147 organisations signed up to it, including trade unions, disabled people organisations, public service employers, charitable organisations and private sector employers. The disability employment charter was founded because of the disadvantage that disabled people experience in […]