FE sector conference

Industrial relations

FE1 - FE Campaigning Priorities in England (Further education committee)

Conference congratulates members, reps and regional offices for progress on narrowing pay differentials with schoolteachers and achieving greater convergence of pay across colleges in England, over the last two years.

It notes however:

• the continuing pay gap of at least 6.5%
• national rates are not applied in all institutions
• unacceptable workloads and levels of casualisation
• inadequate and unstable funding leading to continuing redundancies.

Conference is alarmed at government proposals for demand-led funding, threatening significant privatisation and the destruction of college infrastructure, redundancies, greater casualisation, and breakdown of national pay rates.

UCU must mount a vigorous campaign, including a national demonstration and strike action where necessary, against attacks on FE as a public service and for the continuing improvement of pay and conditions. Success depends on strong branches. It is vital that the union continues and increases the drive to strengthen workplace organisation and membership including organising support through regional offices.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AS AMENDED

FE1A.1 - Composite (Croydon College; Bradford College)

Add at end:'In the event of a pay offer for 2007-8 which either imposes a pay freeze or fails to narrow the gap with teachers, Conference instructs the FEC/NEC to organise a one-day special sector conference at the earliest opportunity (and by no later than September 2007) to determine the union's response'

CARRIED

FE2 - Special conference on pay (Richmond-upon-Thames College)

This conference agrees that a special full one-day conference will be held within the next 3 months solely on the issue of FE pay. This conference will:

1. Draw up a balance sheet of the experience since incorporation, including particularly the experience of the struggle for Modernising Pay.
2. Agree the strategic direction for the union on FE pay.

WITHDRAWN

FE3 - Conduct of National Negotiations (Barnet College, Barnet College, Hendon)

FE Sector Conference notes that the National Joint Forum for pay negotiations is a forum in name only and that actual discussion with AoC negotiators is strictly informal and only involves UCU National Officials.Sector Conference insists that the National Negotiators that it elects democratically are fully and meaningfully involved in the negotiation process and instructs FEC and National Officers to comply accordingly.

CARRIED AS AMENDED

FE3A.1 - Barnet College

In second paragraph: delete the words 'National Negotiators that it elects democratically' and substitute 'democratically-elected National Negotiators'.

CARRIED

FE4 - National pay bargaining (Northumberland College, Ashington)

Conference is alarmed at recent statements by Government Ministers suggesting their intention to abolish national bargaining in the public sector and replace it with regional pay bargaining. Conference believes this would lead to an inequitable and divisive situation throughout the FE Sector of widely varying agreed salary levels and scales. Conference believes that the interests of lecturers are best served and protected by a national pay agreement, underpinned by nationally co-ordinated strategies to deal with employers who fail to honour these national agreements. This should include high profile campaigns, and, where appropriate, industrial action.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

FE5 - Pay campaign (Oxford and Cherwell Valley College, OXPENS Campus)

Conference notes the limited success in the campaign to ensure implementation of the modernised pay scales. The following should be considered as part of a campaign for future action: a renewed national campaign among members to fully explain the issues including imaginatively presented leaflets showing inflation rates, comparison with school teachers etc; a plan of action to include co-ordinated protests/demonstrations on college gates in the lunch hour to be organised by branches to aim to gain publicity and provide an opportunity to involve the membership as a whole; other actions short of industrial action including letter writing campaigns, lobbies of Governors, lobbies of the DfES; finally a nationally well funded and fully organised campaign to win support for industrial action to take place in all colleges where the national pay rates are not being implemented in full.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

FE6 - Threat of privatisation, need for increased regional office support (Bradford College)

This sector notes the increasing threat of privatisation. In FE, there is the particular threat of agency assessors being used to undercut negotiated lecturer pay and conditions. This Sector believes that as part of a campaign to protect pay, jobs and conditions we should increase Regional Official support for branches. This sector therefore instructs the NEC to increase the ability of Regional offices to support branches.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

Prison Education

FE7 - Prison education (Further education committee)

Conference congratulates members in prison education who have come through the last two rounds of retendering better organised by recruiting more members and local representatives.

Conference welcomes the Government's recognition that Prison education has a key role to play as part of their policy to reduce reoffending but deplores the strategy of retendering and contracting out leading to the involvement of private contractors in a large number of prisons.

Conference further notes that as a result of these changes there is no longer any forum where UCU can participate and contribute to policy initiatives affecting Prison education members.

Conference therefore calls on UCU to campaign for a National Forum involving the Union, providers, Government representatives and the LSC to ensure there is proper consultation on all matters affecting prison education. Such a forum should be able to make recommendations to the appropriate authorities and not just be a talking shop.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

Professional and policy work

FE8 - Delivering World Class Skills in a Demand Led System (City of Westminster College)

UCU City of Westminster branch is alarmed by the Government's current proposals; Delivering World Class Skills in a Demand Led System. In particular, we believe that the proposals to create learner accounts, whereby adult students and employers will have access to public funds to contribute to private training, will have a disastrous effect. Common sense, our own recent experience in the UK, as well as the experience of other countries where learner accounts have been introduced, indicates that the creation of a free market in 'training' will lead to severe downward pressure on wages and conditions, potential redundancies and have serious implications for the quality of education as well as equality of opportunity.

We urge UCU to mount a strong campaign against what is likely to be the biggest threat yet faced by the FE sector.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

FE9 - The future of post-16 education (City College Birmingham)

Conference is alarmed at the proposals within the FE Bill and fears for the future of public sector further education and for the life chances of our students and potential students. We call on UCU to organise resistance to the marketisation of FE.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

L1 - Raising the age of post-compulsory education (Further Education Committee)

FE Sector Conference recognises the benefits of continuing education post-16 and the positive impact this has on progressing to employment or pursuing further education. However, UCU opposes coercion and the threat of criminal/civil action to implement this.

UCU believes successful learning from 16 rests on it being voluntary. Compulsion will have a negative impact on staff and students.Participation beyond 16 should be based on:

1. A motivating curriculum for entry to employment/further study.
2. Independent impartial careers, information, advice and guidance services.
3. A statutory basis for young people in employment to paid time off for study.
4. Expanded financial support for young people continuing learning.
5. New resources to support continuing participation in learning.
6. An entitlement not a requirement to level 3 qualification to 30.

Furthermore, Conference remains unconvinced that the government's planned changes for the 14-19 curriculum and key stage 3 curriculum will help the situation.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

FE10 - Manifesto for Further Education (City and Islington College, Camden Road, City and Islington College, Lifelong Learning)

Conference welcomes the Manifesto for Further Education produced by the London Region UCU. This Manifesto must start the process of UCU offering a total vision for FE, answering the government's market-driven strategy. We welcome the conference called by The London Region to develop the Manifesto's ideas and discuss its use as a campaigning document. We agree:

1. To urge all UCU FE branches to send representatives to the conference.
2. To circulate publicity to all branches promoting London regions conference on the manifesto
3. To produce and circulate final draft of Manifesto to UCU members.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

FE11 - 157 Group (Barnet College; Barnet College, Hendon)

Sector Conference deplores the priorities of the 157 Group as publicly declared by its Chair, Ioan Morgan.

The 157 Group seeks to 'embrace' the Government in a rampaging privatisation of English FE, completing its shameful metamorphosis into 300 (or likely far fewer) dark, satanic, low-rent, pared-down, vocational-qualification mills.Mr. Morgan also seeks to 'remedy' the 'heavy public sector contracts on their staff' and seek greater 'flexibility' from them. No doubt there is also a strong desire to achieve 'heavy' private sector senior management remuneration packages.Conference calls on Mr. Morgan and the 157 Group instead to take a principled lead in

• fighting the never-ending succession of funding cuts
• and preserving and expanding a true community-based FE service.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

FE12 - Public inquiry into FE (Northumberland College, Ashington)

Conference expresses its great concern at the poor level of management and the undemocratic and unaccountable nature of governance that exists currently in colleges throughout the UK.

In particular, Conference deplores:

• The aggressive and confrontational stance being increasingly adopted by a growing number of College Principals
• The move towards privatisation and the market-driven approach to educational provision.
• The unacceptable mechanism for the appointment of the majority of members on governing bodies resulting in a self-perpetuating, nepotistic, unrepresentative and unaccountable clique.
• Increasing use by college managements and governing bodies of scarce public resources to engage expensive private consultancy firms.

Conference therefore calls on the Government to instigate a full public inquiry into the management and governance of the further education sector.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

14-19

FE13 - A level courses in GFE Colleges (Brooklands College)

Conference:

• is concerned that many GFE colleges are under pressure to reduce A level provision;
• recognises that such provision can often be a second chance for learners;
• is aware that reductions to t he number of A level subjects on offer undermines the ability to offer the rest of the programme.

  Conference therefore resolves to mount a campaign to bring awareness to the importance of A level provision in GFE colleges and to halt further reductions in these programmes.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

Quality

FE14 - Inspection, Observation and Deprofessionalisation (Newcastle-under-Lyme College)

Conference recognises that the 'light touch' inspection regime introduced in colleges and schools by OFSTED has created serious problems, including:

1. a lack of overall coherence with each college having its own unique policies, some based on national agreement, some by local negotiation, others by management imposition:
2. an overall increase in intrusive methods with increases in stressful observations.
3. a lack of objectivity with marked inconsistencies within and between institutions, leading to de-professionalisation of lecturers and increased scope for bullying by management, arbitrary awarding of grades and arbitrary disciplinary action in some cases.
4. inconsistency between the negligible attempts to assess managerial competence and the methods used for lecturers.

Conference therefore resolves that UCU shall take action, with other unions where possible, to ensure that the problems identified above are brought rapidly to an end and replaced by systems agreed with the AOC to reverse the drive to de-professionalisation.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

FE15 - Classroom observations (Park Lane College)

This branch condemns the growing intimidatory natures of classroom observation practices in FE colleges.

Park Lane branch calls upon Conference to initiate a campaign to reclaim the satisfactory grade that now leads to re-observation and potential capability procedures.

The impact on people's health, family and professional life is detrimental not only to the individual involved, but to the quality of provision that these observations profess to support.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

FE16 -  Lesson observations (Westminster Kingsway College, Sidmouth Street)

This conference notes that lesson observation schemes in FE are adding seriously to stress levels, even inducing serious illness, and failing to offer the constructive support that lecturers need. In some colleges, they have led to staff being dismissed on spurious capability grounds. In others, they have demoralised staff and help drive them out of the profession. We believe that the union nationally should be much more proactive on this issue. In particular, it needs to:

1. Conduct detailed research into the variety of schemes, their consequences, and their relationship to Ofsted inspections.
2. Challenge the underlying philosophy of any approach, which grades lecturers/teachers on 4 or 5 point scales.
3. Make recommendations to branches about best practice.
4. Investigate the possibility of legal challenges to schemes on health and safety grounds.
5. Provide wholehearted support for any local branch in dispute over the implementation of such schemes.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AS AMENDED

FE16A.1 - Brooklands College

Add after sentence ending in 'profession' in line 5: 'Excessive formal and informal observation of lessons and lectures in colleges is counter-productive, stressful and potentially discriminatory. Institutions using over-frequent observation of teachers and lecturers to improve educational standards would be better off putting these resources into improved working conditions for academic and related staff in the form of less onerous workloads.'

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

FE17 - Training (Lambeth College)

Conference agrees that workload is being exacerbated by the introduction of new national mandatory qualifications (eg. Numeracy, Literacy, ESOL Subject Specifications), without increased funds to pay for remission and other help for teaching staff to meet these requirements.

• This Conference agrees to demand that Government cover hour-for-hour remission and other costs, including childcare and travel.
• This Conference agrees a national strategy to boycott new qualifications which require already qualified teachers to work more than the hours to which they are contracted.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

Professional Development

FE18 - ITT and CPD (Guernsey College)

FESC call upon the NEC to organise for the introduction of ITT and CPD in the Learning and Skills Sector and to campaign for the identification of what constitutes staff development and CPD and the recognition that colleges will need to resource this initiative both financially and logistically.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

FE19 - Workload and stress (Chesterfield College)

UCU FE Sector Conference notes:

• The growing workloads of FE lecturers.
• The fact that in some FE colleges annual teaching of 880-900 hours is the norm.
• The proposed increases in the number of hours of CPD that lecturers are required to perform.
• That lecturers work record levels of unpaid overtime.
• The impact of increasing workloads & stress on the health and wellbeing of lecturers.

UCU FE Sector Conference resolves:

• To instruct the incoming FEC & national officers of the union to make campaigning on stress and workload a priority for the union.
• To co-ordinate & lead, a campaign of information and support to branches to effectively combat the long hours culture that has become prevalent throughout FE.
• To direct a campaign of action at those colleges with the highest annual teaching loads
• To ensure that any increase in CPD is not imposed on top of existing teaching hours.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AS AMENDED

FE19A.1 - Brooklands College

Add new sentence, after 'wellbeing of lecturers' (line 8): 'The extraordinarily low participation levels in the NEC elections particularly FE turnout that suggests a disengagement with UCU.' At end of motion add: 'To seek to re-engage with the FE membership through a planned campaign of imaginative industrial action to include an aggressive sustained media campaign to draw attention to and seek to restore meaningful collective bargaining and improve the appalling terms and conditions of service'.

CARRIED

Adult learning

FE20 - Cuts to FE funding (Lambeth College)

Conference condemns the national funding cuts in Adult Education and ESOL provision. Conference is also alarmed at the creeping privatisation and contestability within the FE sector. Conference recognises that these cuts will have severe consequences for the most vulnerable members of our society. This Conference resolves:

• To immediately, mount a national campaign against the cuts in Adult Education and privatisation.
• To publicise and inform UCU members and branches of the proposals around privatisation and contestability and their consequences
• To ballot for national industrial action, escalating to all out strike, to defend Further Education as a publicly funded, high quality service.

This campaign will be built on the current ESOL campaign that has generated wide public and political support. The campaign should also link up with the TUC, other trade unions, students and local communities fighting against cuts in public services.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

FE21 - Cuts in Adult Education (City and Islington College, Lifelong Learning)

Conference notes proposed cuts in financial support to adult education leading to the closure of ESOL and Basic Skills classes.

Conference believes these cuts are confused, mean-spirited, motivated by misplaced adherence to the market in education, and hostile to multiculturalism.

Conference resolves:

1. To mount an effective nationwide campaign to resist the government's plans for adult education with clear-cut and well-funded publicity to enhance public awareness and to gain public support
2. That this campaign should include the potential use of national or regional industrial action to ensure that that the union's position is backed up by action or the threat of it
3. To encourage branches and associations to set up campaigns involving community organisations, elected representatives, other unions, etc.
4. To organise a lobby of the LSC
5. To support branches which take industrial action in defence of jobs and to restore ESOL and Basic Skills provision.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

FE22 - ESOL (Barnsley College)

This conference notes:

1. Proposed LSC cuts in financial support so that many who need ESOL classes will now be charged fees;
2. This will make it impossible for many of the most discriminated against and oppressed in society to access the language skills they need;
3. These cuts run counter to New Labour's statements about integration and social cohesion, further undermining the notion of multiculturalism;
4. The potential for a broad-based defence of ESOL provision.

This conference believes these cuts are confused, mean-spirited, motivated by misplaced adherence to the market in education, and hostile to multiculturalism.

This conference resolves:

• To encourage branches and associations to set up campaigns involving community organisations, elected representatives, other unions etc.
• To organise a lobby of the LSC.
• To support branches and associations which take industrial action in defence of jobs and to restore ESOL provision.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

FE23 - Adult education cuts (City and Islington College, Camden Road)

This Branch urges UCU Conference to condemn the cuts in adult education recently announced. These cuts will deprive many non-English speakers, particularly refugees and asylum seekers, of a fundamental right of access to the language, reinforcing the two-tier society.

The cuts will lead to redundancies in colleges. This Branch therefore urges Conference to mount an effective nationwide campaign including: a) publicity to enhance public awareness and support.b) the potential use of industrial action against compulsory redundancies.c) working with organisations of those people most affected in joint actiond) lobbying political partiese) calling upon the region to call a lunch time protest on May 1st in defence of ESOL and adult education and against job losses; using the slogan "take your lunch break day" to encourage as many staff as possible to join the protests.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

FE24 - ESOL (Further education committee)

Conference congratulates the Save ESOL campaign.

It deplores moves to restrict free entitlement to ESOL. Access to quality ESOL is essential to integration, cohesion, social and economic development.

Conference resolves to:

• Maintain the broad alliance and press for free ESOL provision to be widely available
• Continue to publicise and brief on cuts in ESOL and unmet demand
• Critically examine any new ESOL curriculum and resist dilution
• Continue to press for increased employer investment in ESOL
• Support the development and extension of local and national campaigning
• Continue to relate the plans for ESOL to the wider problems in adult education.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

FE25 - Adult education (Liverpool Community College, Duke St)

Conference condemns the current climate of marginalising adult education through the change of government priorities and huge cuts in budgets.

Conference welcomes the initiative from members in Liverpool Adult Education (the FE College, the LEA, WEA) to produce a Charter for Adult Education - called 'A Vision from Liverpool'- where there is a recognition that education transforms people's lives and that adults have a right to learning that is inspiring, challenging and enjoyable.

Conference calls on the NEC to use the Charter as a campaigning tool by:

• Supporting and publicising it
• encouraging all Branches to discuss and amend it to meet their own needs
• encouraging Branches, members, students and others to sign up to the Charter.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

FE26 - Adult education funding (Brooklands College)

Conference:

• Recognises that adults return to learning through a myriad of different routes;
• Reiterates its support for Lifelong Learning;
• Is appalled at the way funding has been prioritised and withdrawn from adult programmes and fees increased so that adults are only able to access a limited range of courses that meet a narrow agenda.

Conference therefore resolves to continue the campaign to restore and expand funding for adult learning and to link with other organisations to publicise the current reductions in adult learning and to ensure that a broad programme of Lifelong Learning is fully funded.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

FE27 - ESOL (Liverpool Community College, Duke St)

Conference condemns the threats to ESOL provision and congratulates UCU on its positive campaign that resulted in a partial rethink of some of the threatened cuts.

Conference notes that the effects of the threatened cuts will have a differential impact on women, who are often hard to reach and more likely to be unable to fund their own ESOL education.

Conference urges the NEC to call for a Gender Equality Impact Assessment to be done by the DFES and every college delivering ESOL to assess the impact on women of these cuts. These findings should be linked to the already completed Race Equality Impact Assessments done by the DFES and Colleges.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

Other issues

FE28 - Facilities Time (Guernsey College)

FESC calls upon the NEC to vigorously campaign for substantial and formalised facilities time to be granted to those members of UCU who have been elected to fulfil trade union roles within their respective organisations.

CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY