Conference they say a week in politics is a long time but over the last week, not mention month, the government has been in total chaos and made the UK a laughing stock. But for disabled people and our Disabled Members none of this is funny. It seemed that every time the now former Prime […]
Conference motions
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 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 […]
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 […]
Higher Education professional support staff across the country provide a vital service to our universities and students by carrying out hugely varied roles across our Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), though too often this work is not given the recognition it deserves by employers. UNISON has a brilliant membership benefits package. There are opportunities to promote […]
The primary role of UNISON, or any Trade Union, is to use the collective power of its members to deliver lasting and significant improvements to pay, pension rights and working conditions. We cannot help but be mindful of, and worried for the health and wellbeing of our members in HE, facing as they have been […]
Conversion therapy refers to the practise of attempting to change a person’s sexuality or gender identity. There are many different techniques, both physical and mental, that can include talking therapies and prayer, but more extreme forms can include exorcism, physical violence such as electric shocks and testosterone injections. There is no reliable scientific evidence that […]
Conference notes that it has been some years since HERA was introduced as the tool for role analysis in the majority of UK universities as part of the National Framework Agreement. As part of that many UNISON activists were trained and accredited as HERA Role Analysts to support members wishing to have their roles evaluated, […]
Conference notes that pay gaps affect large swathes of our membership regardless of service group or self organised structures within UNISON. Pay gaps measure the average hourly pay of a group of people with a ‘protected characteristic,’ such as women or Black workers, compared to the average hourly pay for men or white workers for […]
Conference notes the news article published in the Guardian newspaper on the 13th of June 2022 which stated that according to the Office for National Statistics, as of 1st of May an estimated 2 million people in the UK reported having Long Covid, as the condition is known. Conferences notes that Unison Black disabled members […]
Conference notes that the British Sign Language (BSL) Bill, a Private Member’s Bill introduced by Labour’s Rosie Cooper MP in 2021, was passed by both the House of Commons and the Lords earlier this year before passing into law following Royal Assent. The BSL Act will recognise BSL as a language of England, Wales and […]
Conference is concerned about the widening disability pay gap and the impact on our Disabled Members. The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that on average disabled people are paid almost 14% less than non-disabled people. Further analysis of the data shows that the type of disability also impacts on the […]
Conference applauds UNISON’s National Delegate Conference [NDC], which recently unequivocally re-asserted the union’s commitment to Fair Representation. Rule D5.2 of the UNISON Rulebook observes that self-organisation assists the union: Promote the union’s equalities and bargaining agenda Defend jobs, terms and conditions and services Build its density and have a strong and dynamic presence in the […]