Further Education Sector Conference

Motions have been allocated to a section of the NEC's report to Congress (UCU2068). Paragraph headings refer to paragraphs within this report. CBC has added some new paragraph headings to facilitate the ordering of motions.

(EP) advisory marking denoting UCU existing policy

FE1  FE England pay report - Further education committee

Conference approves the report on the FE England 2023/24 pay round and notes developments in the 2022/23 round as circulated in UCUBANFE23.

CARRIED

FE2  Composite - City and Islington College Camden Road, New City College (THC Poplar), South and City College Birmingham

Notes:

1. the historic FE ballot result of 87% for action and 51% turn out
2. the c150 branches to be balloted from September
3. despite the lack of Thrutext the campaign result was excellent
4. congratulations to all union staff, the branch reps, the activists to achieve 51% TO and 87% YES.

Believes:

1. the results reflect an appetite of members to fight on an England-wide basis - for pay, workload and a binding national bargaining agreement
2. there is a significant appetite amongst members to take national action
3. due to the intransigence of the employers and government we will need to take nationally coordinated and sustained strike action to win
4. we need to start to prepare now to follow up the Autumn campaign and lay the groundwork to successfully move to an aggregated ballot in the new year.

Resolves:

1. to call an England-wide demonstration on one of the initial days of strike action to lobby the DfE
2. if government/AoC have not conceded to our demands, to prepare for an aggregated ballot starting in January 2024
3. in any future consultation the FEC will decide what would be a reasonable threshold for branches to reach to move to ballot.

CARRIED AS AMENDED

FE2A.1  City and Islington College Camden Road

Add:

1. To set up an England-wide strike committee throughout the duration of the dispute for all those branches involved to discuss strategy and tactics.

CARRIED

FE2A.2  Merton College, City of Liverpool College (City)

Add

Notes:

1. the 2016 TU legislation.

Add

Believes:

1. it is the duty of TUs to oppose this bill and call for its repeal.
2. it is not the job of TUs to increase this threshold to make it even more difficult to take legal strike action.

Add

Resolves:

1. in any future consultation the FEC will decide what would be a reasonable threshold for branches to reach to move to ballot.

CARRIED

FE2A.3  City of Liverpool College (City)

Add

Notes

1. the Eballot success
2. despite the lack of Thrutext the campaign result was excellent
3. congratulations to all union staff, the branch reps, the activists to achieve 51% TO and 87% YES

Add

resolves

1. in light of the wave of strikes across sectors for the FEC to analyse the best ways to make most impact for the next set of continuous or sustained strike action

CARRIED

FE3  Levelling up FE - City and Islington College Camden Road

Conference notes:

1. the reclassification of FE as part of the public sector
2. the disparity of pay and conditions agreements across the FE sector.

Conference believes that:

1. the reclassification of FE provides an opportunity to fight for parity with schools over pay, conditions and a nationally binding bargaining framework
2. a nationally binding bargaining framework agreement would be a step towards the levelling up of the sector
3. now FE is classified as public sector then we must at least have the same bargaining agreements as schools.

Conference resolves:

1. Call on UCU to publicise amongst members why a nationally binding bargaining framework agreement is key to levelling up the sector.

CARRIED AS AMENDED

FE3A.1  New City College (THC Poplar), South and City College Birmingham

Add:

Believes D, E and F:

4. the government/employers will not voluntarily implement an England-wide binding bargaining agreement
5. they will only do so when they see members are prepared to take strike action to force them to implement an agreement
6. not having a binding England-wide bargaining agreement in place must not be a reason to delay action or preparations for action to achieve this goal.

CARRIED

FE4  Campaign for parity with sixth form colleges - The Manchester College

FESC notes:

1. 6th form colleges and colleges in Wales have national agreements way more favourable than FE.
2. students at 6th form college are taught by a teachers on more money with fewer teaching hours.
3. it still should be an aspiration of all FE colleges to have nationally agreed terms and conditions through national bargaining.
4. the teaching staff in FE must be treated fairly.
5. this resolution is to extend the Respect FE agenda.

FESC resolves:

1. that UCU start a national campaign, including advertising, that brings FE to the fore because of its essential role in training young people for work in this era of skills shortages.
2. to launch a campaign to lobby parliament and the DFE
3. colleagues to write to MPs including the Education Secretary to ask for FE to be better funded, staff to be treated fairly and given conditions of employment the same as those in 6th form colleges.

CARRIED AS AMENDED

FE4A.1  City of Liverpool College (Arts Mulberry)

FESC notes:

add to 4. after fairly " and to have pay parity"

add to 5. after agenda "for national bargaining"

FESC resolves:

insert " bargaining " in a. in between national campaign

add to b. at the end after DFE " to address and highlight the crisis in recruitment of specialised staff, the loss of experienced teachers, and the critical shortage of teachers to teach the needs of a skilled workforce"

CARRIED

FE4A.2  City of Liverpool College (Roscoe)

add

4. parity of pay between the sectors has been campaigned on before during the time of the IFL and UCU should renew that call again

add

2. create a fact sheet for campaigning in branches for parity of pay for the Post 16 sectors
3. to send more solidarity messages to NEU comrades in their struggle for better pay.

CARRIED

FE5  Workloads - Yorkshire and Humberside FE sector regional committee

FESC:

1. notes UCU's work on workloads and overloading of staff
2. believes that excessive workloads are a major concern of UCU members
3. welcomes the inclusion of workloads in the FE pay claim for 2023-24.

FESC calls upon FEC to:

1. address the workload and other problems attached to student attendance monitoring, behaviour monitoring and supporting vulnerable 14-19 year olds and related pastoral work as well as chasing work
2. develop campaign materials for use at branch level to support branches in campaigning to reduce excessive workloads
3. encourage and promote trade union education in contractual matters related to workloads, so that FE staff, especially new staff, hourly paid and part time staff are informed of employment rights
4. include awareness of equality issues in campaign materials around workloads
5. recognise that some teaching roles eg subject leaders are expected to take on extra responsibilities without enough remission.

CARRIED AS AMENDED

FE5A.1  City of Liverpool College (Roscoe)

add

4. Workload and pay are linked; as pay has declined, workload has increased

add

6. that FE negotiators seek agreement with the unions, similar to the previous Working Regulations, with the AoC so that workload can be reduced urgently
7. in any future AoC consultation that the FE negotiators refer any decent offer on pay and workload to the FEC first and foremost for analysis

CARRIED

FE6  Counting the costs of casualisation in further, adult and prison education - Anti-casualisation committee

This Conference notes that the UCU Survey Report Counting the costs of Casualisation published in 2019 reported Staff on insecure contracts working in further, adult and prison education are holding down multiple jobs and visiting food banks in an effort to makes ends meet

Conference believes that the 'Cost of Living Crisis' and the 'Covid Pandemic' will have made the situation of casualised staff even worse

Conference calls on the UCU to undertake a new survey of casualised staff in further, adult and prison education as a matter of urgency with a view to publishing that report prior to next year's FE Sector Conference.

CARRIED

FE7  Disabled members and casualised contracts in further/adult/prison education - Disabled members standing committee

Conference notes:

1. 60% of FE colleges use zero-hours contracts to deliver teaching
2. UCU research found that staff on insecure contracts in FE are holding down multiple jobs and visiting food banks. The pandemic exacerbated this situation
3. our members are in a cost-of-living crisis, yet the disability pay gap widened (TUC 2022) and UCU research found that 72% of staff on insecure contracts in FE said they struggled to even exist.

Conference believes:

1. the lack of reasonable adjustments is endemic in precarious employment
2. this is exacerbated by the lack of agreement about what a 'reasonable adjustment' is under the Equality Act

Conference calls on the UCU to:

1. undertake research on the current state of play post Covid
2. link the findings with our other equalities strands
3. ensure that disabled members are fully represented in UCU campaigns about casualised working.

CARRIED

FE8  FE campaign for establishing long covid as a disability - Disabled members standing committee

Conference notes:

1. 2022 Employment Tribunal decision in the case of Burke v Turning Point Scotland (2021) that long covid satisfies the test for a disability
2. TUC's campaign to get long covid recognised as such
3. EHRC does not automatically class long covid as a disability
4. the number of young people completing apprenticeships in 2020 fell by nearly 1/3 and the number starting them fell by 46%.

Conference believes:

1. a pilot survey in FE should be undertaken
2. Long Covid should be classed as a disability.

Conference calls on the UCU to:

1. collate evidence of how long covid affects our members in FE
2. link this work with the Joint Protocol and model agreements with employers
3. organise a joint conference with sibling unions, to publish our findings and launch a campaign to persuade employers to recognise the real impact of Long Covid.

CARRIED

FE9  Maternity/paternity rights in the FE sector - Women members standing committee

There is huge variation in maternity, paternity and parental leave policies across FE. As educators we understand the importance of stability and security to young people. Yet many maternity policies provide such poor pay that women are forced back to work before they want to. Many paternity policies only provide the legal minimum. Shared parental leave policies are still not promoted within FE which would provide members with equal opportunities.

Moreover, when children are unwell it disproportionately falls on woman to take time off and care for that child. However, in many colleges this ends up being taken as unpaid leave or as holiday.

FESC calls on UCU to:

1. carry out research on the variation within parental leave policies.
2. provide information on best cases as branch resources to help negotiate new policies.

CARRIED

FE10 Impact of cost of living crisis on FE Black members mental health - Black members standing committee

Conference notes:

1. a clear link between racism, low pay and mental health
2. as inflation increases, Black members in FE face more hardship
3. Black members in FE are usually in low paid work, on casualised, precarious and zero-hour contracts
4. their ethnic background, age, gender, disability and immigration status make them more vulnerable to cost-of-living crisis.
5. 'People Like Us' research shows that Black People are paid 84% of their white counterparts.
6. Black Members in FE experience widespread indirect workplace discrimination
7. some are treated differently because they come from continents with different degrees
8. this all impacts FE Black members' mental health.

Conference undertakes to:

1. provide a culturally suited, easily/readily accessible talking therapy to protect the mental health of Black members, outside of their workplace
2. compel the government to publish data on the disproportionate impact of the cost-of-living crisis on Black people.

CARRIED

FE11  Supporting trans and non-binary people in FE - LGBT+ members standing committee

Conference notes that:

1. under 18s attend FE colleges for well-being support including disaffection with schools
2. SRE curricula is subject to anti-LGBT+ pressure
3. LGBT+ young people can already find school environments difficult
4. draft change in NHS guidance away from gender-affirming care for under 18s.

Conference further notes that:

1. hormone blockers can be important for young trans and non-binary people
2. draft NHS guidance identifies social transition (self-identity) as a psychological issue that warrants medical / psychological intervention rather than self-declaration (https://segm.org/England-ends-gender-affirming-care).

Conference believes that:

1. FE should be a supportive place for exploring LGBT+ identity
2. FE colleges provision should be fully LGBT+ inclusive.

Conference resolves to:

1. support and defend self-determination
2. continue to advocate for under 18s to be free to self-identify as LGBT+
3. oppose change away from gender-affirming care for under 18s in the NHS
4. provide resources for branches to push for LGBT+ inclusion in FE.

CARRIED

FE12  LGBT+ in FE - LGBT+ members standing committee

Conference believes that:

1. FE colleges should be welcoming and supportive places for all LGBT+ people
2. FE is a unique place for people to find and express non-normative identities
3. many curricula areas operate from a hetero and cis normative basis
4. a number of LGBT+ learners attend FE colleges and benefit from support from FE staff
5. there is little research into the experiences of LGBT+ staff and learners.

Conference resolves to:

1. support branches in promoting LGBT+ equality in FE
2. undertake a survey about LGBT+ experiences and issues in FE
3. launch a resourced week of LGBT+ liberation activity in FE in line with the UCU LGBT+ charter focused on evidence from the FE LGBT+ survey
4. develop guidance about how curricula in FE can be LGBT+ inclusive
5. engage with national FE sector organisations to develop LGBT+ work across all FE provision.

CARRIED

FE13  Attendance monitoring in FE - Yorkshire and Humberside FE sector regional committee

Conference notes that:

1. young people are now required to remain in education until the age of 18
2. this has fundamentally changed the nature of FE without significant improvements in funding or management culture
3. attendance in schools and colleges has fallen off since Covid leading to national concern on this issue
4. attendance is a safeguarding issue
5. in schools, there are dedicated staff to manage non-attendance while in FE this falls on already overworked teaching and pastoral staff, often with punitive consequences when they are not successful
6. young people face complex barriers to accessing education such as poverty, mental health issues and caring responsibilities.

Conference calls on FEC to:

1. campaign for colleges to remove the unreasonable expectations from teaching staff that they must be solely responsible for students' attendance.
2. lobby government to properly resource and support the recruitment of specialist staff to support attendance and access to education.

CARRIED

L1  Ofsted inspections must go - Trafford College Group

On behalf of UCU, Conference sends condolences to the friends, family and students of Ruth Perry.

Conference believes:

1. professional educators should be able to work in a supportive and developmental environment that encourages values of collaboration, knowledge exchange and consensus building
2. there is no place in education for bullying, intimidation, and fear
3. Ofsted inspections are the cause of great harm and danger to all who work in FE.

Conference resolves to:

1. call for the abolition of Ofsted inspections in FE
2.  campaign for a root and branch review of the Ofsted inspection methodology and practice, and call for a risk assessment of the current inspection regime
3. lobby the UK government and work with sister unions to secure our aims
4. identify alternative models of inspection based on collaboration and developmental approaches
5. support branches and members as part of this campaign.

CARRIED