UNISON’s higher education (HE) conference convened in Swansea at the end of January, with debates highlighting the need for better pay and funding in the sector.
A motion from the service group executive called for ‘a new start for higher education’, with delegates making the link between funding and better pay explicit.
Vicki Morris from Nottingham University said: “Our members need a decent pay increase.
“Without better funding, our members’ pay and conditions will continue to be pushed down.
“The financial crisis in higher education is real. Governments have failed to take ownership of this crisis. The route of the problem goes a long way back.”
She continued: “Higher education isn’t just a commodity to be bought and sold. It should not be treated as such. We need to reaffirm, publicly and visibly to our members and to politicians, our policy that higher education should be funded by general taxation, so it is free to students.
“In November, the government announced a 3% increase in tuition fees. This isn’t enough to fund the pay increase our members need. And it won’t be enough to save everyone’s jobs.”
Another motion from the executive also raised the issue of jobs. Joanna Willets from Sunderland University told delegates: “Universities across the UK are suffering financially. With major job cuts announced recently in Cardiff, Durham and Newcastle, totalling nearly 1,000 cuts. It’s vital that we have a political campaign on this.
“We need a campaign that calls on a radical reset on HE funding. It needs to be recognised across the country that HE is a public service and should be funded through general taxation.
“The crisis in higher education needs a three-pronged approach – political, negotiation and industrial.”
A further motion again highlighted the link between pay and funding.
From the University of Brighton, Ivan Bonsell said that it was important that the union didn’t “go down the road of separating our demand for decent wages, with the demand that universities are funded properly.
“The reality is we all know that our members are struggling with the cost of living, and we need hard cash in their pockets by August. And we need to fight for it where necessary.
“We do face a battle of survival with all public services. We want to fight for our fair share of the wealth that we produce in a roundabout way in public services.
“For everything we want for our members, we are going to have to fight.”
The article HE conference highlights link between funding and pay first appeared on the UNISON National site.
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