This Conference condemns the decision by the UK Tory Government to require fees for nursing and midwifery courses to be paid for from 2017 by loans rather than the current bursary system. This callous decision will drive more and more of those people who want to care for the vulnerable in our society into poverty […]
Conference motions
Conference recognises that domestic abuse, whether inflicted by men on women, by women on men or by same sex couples must not be defended or tolerated in today’s modern society. However the abuse is caused or who causes it, when injury or ill health results and the victim is in need of medical attention, it […]
This Conference views with disgust, that the large consultancy, legal and accountancy firms have been increasing their financial turnover and profits from the public purse strings across the NHS. Trusts spending on them doubled between 2010 and 2014 to £640 million – enough to pay for three medium-sized hospitals. For all of 2014 the NHS […]
Conference regards the health, safety and welfare of workers as paramount across the NHS. Conference believes the successful pursuit of health and safety legislation, regulations and practice in the workplace rests in large part on the efforts of unionised work places. Conference recognises the attempts of government to roll back health and safety provision. Conference […]
With rising pension ages both in the State and Employers Pension Scheme, Higher Education will see an increase in the age of its workforce. The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful to discriminate against employees because of their age. Age discrimination can impact on someone’s confidence, job prospects, financial situation and quality of life. Older […]
Conference notes the vital importance of expanding the spirit and ethos of trade unionism amongst students. To this end, as a highly politically sensitive area of the union, we need to foster closer relations with students unions through the UK. Students, as a group of ‘consumers’, need to realise that with increased tuition fees, they […]
This Conference believes that the growth of privatisation and outsourcing in Higher Education presents a major challenge not just to the provision of services, but also to our ability to organise the workforce effectively. This Conference believes that the service group’s response to this challenge must be to support branches seeking to resist privatisation and […]
Conference notes that it was our union’s national collective bargaining that established many equality protections long before they were enshrined in law. For example, our predecessor unions secured recognition of same sex partners for the purposes of workplace benefits before workplace discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation was banned and many years before the first […]
Conference notes that Health and Safety has not been exempt from the government’s austerity cuts agenda. The continued drive to “cut red tape” has brought changes to both the way work environments and hazardous substances are classified. Conference welcomes the initiative to standardise substance labelling worldwide and agree that when it comes to health and […]
Conference, higher education employers are increasingly using the creation of wholly owned subsidiary companies to transfer support staff to deliver services. This is being used as a way to externalise staff for the purpose of creating a two-tier workforce to undermine the terms and conditions of new workers and placing the pensions and other contractual […]
Conference notes that the Trade Union Bill currently going through Parliament is the biggest attack on workers’ rights and civil liberties in a generation. The headline requirement of a 50% turnout for a strike ballot is well known but there are other more insidious and pernicious sections that will fundamentally affect the way that Trade […]
Conference notes that Higher Education pay and conditions continue to erode following the year on year meagre pay offer from UCEA (Universities and Colleges Employers Association). We know that Universities budget for a figure higher than what is eventually offered by the UCEA negotiators. UK Universities have been described by the Tory Chancellor as the […]
Conference, the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) piloted a Race Equality Charter Mark with the aim to inspire a strategic approach to making cultural and systemic changes that will make a real difference to Black staff and students. The Charter covered: a)Professional and support staff b)Academic staff c)Student attainment, diversity of the curriculum and progression of […]
Conference notes that government cuts mean employers are looking for new ways of working to save money without cutting jobs. Often referred to as Lean or Agile Working, these methods were developed by Toyota and are predominantly used in manufacturing industries. If implemented correctly they can bring financial savings and improve working conditions. While we […]
This conference notes: 1)The current political climate makes trade union activists more vulnerable to victimisation. 2)The Trade Union Bill being presented to parliament in autumn 2015 represents a significant attack on trade union rights. 3)That there is no longer a legal right for employees to be accompanied by a trade union representative at flexible working […]