Conference notes the rule change passed at National Delegate Conference 2023 which raised the age limit for young members from all those aged 26 and under to all those aged 30 and under. Conference further notes that this roughly doubles the number of young members in UNISON, and is therefore a unique opportunity to build […]
Conference motions
Conference notes the rule change passed at National Delegate Conference 2023 which raised the age limit for young members from all those aged 26 and under to all those aged 30 and under. Conference further notes that this roughly doubles the number of young members in UNISON, and is therefore a unique opportunity to build […]
Conference notes the passage of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023. Conference believes this Act represents a grave threat to unions’ ability to take effective strike action in the sectors of health, education services, fire and rescue, border security, and nuclear decommissioning. Conference notes the Government announced on 2 October 2023 that it intends […]
Conference notes the UNICEF report from September 2023 which found that 70% of UK-based parents of children and new babies felt that life was getting harder for parents. Over two-thirds of parents believe that the Government is not doing enough to support them. In the UNICEF survey of parents of 0-4-year-olds, 78% reported that the […]
Conference notes that increased workloads in Higher Education, coupled with the impact of the pandemic, has seen an increase in staff experiencing mental health problems. Conference notes that workers with mental health problems which have a substantial impact on their normal day to day activities are likely to be disabled workers and entitled to protections […]
This conference knows how much digital technology has changed all our lives. The use of mobile phones, social media, home camera systems does make our communication with work colleagues, friends, and family so much quicker and easier. In the main these are all good methods to keep us safe and in touch. However there has […]
Conference notes that disabled workers are entitled to reasonable adjustments to break down the barriers they face at work. However too many Higher Education employers continue to ignore requests for adjustments or to refuse them. Conference notes that case law has established that the provision of a dedicated car parking space can be a reasonable […]
Conference notes that On 1 August 2013, Ulster University outsourced its facilities services, i.e. cleaners, porters, security officers, mail room staff and all catering services which were transferred out to two companies, NOONAN Service Group and Mount Charles Catering. Staff were transferred to NOONAN and Mount Charles under TUPE. Anyone employed after 1 August 2013 […]
Conference Notes: Public services have been systematically underfunded for years and Higher Education is not exempt from austerity and cutbacks. Whilst different funding systems operate across the four UK nations, delivering funding based on grants, tuition fee loans or both, what unites many Higher Education Institutions is that money is scarce and high inflation has […]
Conference Notes: 1)UNISON in Higher Education represents staff in a range of roles and professions. This includes staff employed by Students’ Unions. 2)Students’ Union staff experience challenges of low pay, job insecurity and workload as much as any in the sector. 3)Students’ Unions, Associations and Guilds comprise a range of organisational structures which can create […]
Conference notes the Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, which gives parents the right to take up to two weeks’ time off work to deal with the death of a child, if the child has died under the age of 18 or is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy, as well as […]
Affordable childcare facilities Conference deplores the ongoing failure of Public Sector Services to engage with childcare issues, which are an increasing barrier to recruitment and retention in an overwhelmingly female workforce. The lack of adequate pay increases set against a backdrop of the worst cost of living crisis in a generation means that childcare has […]
Conference notes the continuing failure of the government to invest and maintain a wide variety of public services in the UK, with almost every institution showing signs of underinvestment in systems, infrastructure, and staffing. Most of the public services delivered by UNISON members are showing sign of this strain despite often heroic efforts to maintain […]
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 […]
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 […]