The UNISON website has been thoroughly redesigned and offers members more support, information and access to union services: www.unison.org.uk

Personally I found it rather confusing that the site has both a “Sign In” link and a “My UNISON” link, and that the details for one don’t seem to work the other… but hopefully that will be clarified. The idea is that signed-in visitors will have access to “premium information” and can personalise the site, save favourite pages for future reference, and sign up for updates or newsletters. Hopefully the inconsistencies will be sorted out.

If nothing else, the site looks fresher and less cluttered up with tiny text than it used to.

Some of the features of the new site include (and here I am cutting and pasting from the news release so let’s hope there weren’t any last minute changes!!)

• UNISON Knowledge: a sophisticated online library containing 70 key topics identified by UNISON members and reps as being the core information they need access to. From discrimination at work to health and safety legislation; pensions and pay to redundancy and retirement – it will have all of UNISON’s key workplace knowledge in one place, written simply and checked by legal experts.

• Events: local and national UNISON events. You can click a link to add them to your diary, or fill in an online form to register.

• Contacts: a comprehensive branch directory linked directly to our membership records system.

• Campaigns and key issues: active online campaigning on the union’s key national campaigns and service-specific issues, including the facility to sign up to support a campaign and get email updates and online actions such as adding your voice, taking part in a poll, email your MP or sharing your own story.

• Activist tools and resources: we’ve put together a support and guidance section for our activists, covering key areas such as representing members, organising a campaign, negotiating and bargaining and dealing with members’ queries.

• Your own personal My UNISON section which allows you to build up a record of your online interaction with the union. You can check and update your membership details, see a list of any articles you’ve “favourited”; get updates on Knowledge topics you are interested in and manage a list of campaigns or key issues you’ve signed up for.

Below please find Higher Education briefing and supporting documents relating to the previously publicised pay negotiations, which have broken down. Please let us have your Consultation response (see item 3) via unison@kent.ac.uk. The response deadline is Monday 1 July at 17:00.

1. UCEA’s Final Offer 2013-14 – 21 May
2. HE Member Briefing 030613 (4)
3. Final Pay Consultation letter 030613

UNISON’s Higher Education Service Group Executive has voted to consult its 40,000 members in the sector, with a recommendation to reject the employers derisory 1% pay offer, with a view to taking industrial action.

The union called on the employers to make an offer that would reflect the high cost of living and the real terms pay cuts that staff have endured in recent years.

UNISON’s head of higher education, Donna Rowe-Merriman, said:

“This offer falls far below what is required to address the gap between incomes and the cost of living. Higher Education workers have been hard hit by year on year real terms pay cuts and large numbers still take home poverty pay.

“It is unacceptable that more than 40,000 HE workers across the UK earn below the living wage – the minimum people need to give their families a decent standard of living. HE institutions can apparently afford high salaries for vice chancellors and senior managers, so they can afford to pay the living wage as a bottom rate.

“All staff are under real pressure from employers to be increasingly flexible and work harder every day. They face job insecurity, outsourcing and the increasing use of precarious zero hours contracts and all they get in return is this miserly increase.”

A revised offer of a pay rise of 0.8% was tabled by the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) on 9th May. (The initial offer of 0.5% having been rejected.) Along with other unions UNISON asked for an offer that would address the pay cuts – in all but name – that members have had to endure in recent years. Action has also been requested on the gender pay gap in Higher Education, the growing use of zero hours contracts, and the increasing workloads that members are facing.

UNISON’s Head of Higher Education, Donna Rowe-Merriman commented that more than 4,000 workers in Higher Education have earnings below the living wage. “We believe that many HE institutions that do not currently pay this basic rate could afford to do so”, she said. Donna added “…members are also facing the added pressure of job insecurity and the increasing use of precarious zero hours contracts.”

Members are being asked to work more flexibly and to accept changes in work practices in the name of improving the “student experience” and yet pay is being restrained and in real terms living standards and income are falling.

The two sides are due to meet again tomorrow, Tuesday 21st May 2013.

The New Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff (New JNCHES) is the central committee for multi-employer negotiations and dialogue on pay and pay-related issues. The first full meeting of New JNCHES to discuss the pay claim for 2013-14 took place on 23 April.  UNISON and the other Higher Education unions had previously presented our joint claim, which called for:

1.  A percentage increase on all pay spine points of at least RPI (Feb 2013 RPI was 3.2%) on all salary points plus an additional percentage increase to start to address the real term reduction in pay over the last four years.
2. Low Pay – to address the issue of low pay in the higher education sector by achieving a ‘living wage’ for all staff. This should be achieved through the removal of the bottom two spine points on the national pay spine.
3. London Weighting – An increase in the minimum allowance to £4000.
4. Positive proposals from UCEA on a range of equalities issues

The unions argued that the claim was justified as the settlement for 2012/13 amounted to a further erosion of members’ pay. After a fourth consecutive year of pay restraint, our members are reporting real falls in income and difficulties in maintaining their standard of living.

We also called on universities to commit to paying a living wage to all staff, regardless of their employment status. We argued strongly that it was affordable and justified, and that universities should strive to be socially responsible employers within their communities.

At the conclusion of the first negotiating meeting, the employers made an initial offer of 0.5% on all pay points and London weighting in pre-1992 institutions. They stated they do not have a mandate to remove or extend pay points from the current scale. The employers wish to continue discussion on other pay related matters to address inequality issues and asked for further details on the other elements of the claim.

Although the trade unions did not formally respond to this offer, we made it clear that it was well below the unions’ expectations. The employers acknowledged the union response and indicated that there are elements of the claim where they have an ability to negotiate.

The next meeting of JNCHES is due to take place on 8 May 2013

See also http://www.ucea.ac.uk/en/empres/paynegs/current/index.cfm