Category: Statements & passed motions

This branch notes and applauds the policy on Higher Education funding passed at HE conference 2024 (13. Fund Our Universities Properly; 14. A New Start for Higher Education). That motion calls on the service group to inform members about the state of higher education finances, to campaign for adequate funding and more grants, to reaffirm support for public funding and opposition to tuition fees, and to support branches facing job cuts. Our policy envisions and commits us to supporting a Higher Education sector that is accessible to all, publicly funded through progressive taxation and free from the instability of tuition fees and wasteful market competition.

This branch notes the current crisis in HE that is causing the loss of posts through voluntary severance, voluntary redundancies and, in some HE institutions, compulsory redundancies. Staff in HEIs – our members – are being asked to work harder than ever to keep them viable. Some HEIs could go out of business this year.

This branch notes the uncertainty created by over-reliance on international student fees, in themselves exploitative.

This branch also notes the election of a new Westminster Government which opens the possibilities of changes in policy on HE funding.

This branch believes that the funding crisis needs a swift, timely, visible and robust response from our union, in order to save jobs, press the case for increased funding, and serve the needs of members. Such a campaign can also assist with recruitment.

This branch calls upon the HE Service Group Executive to organise an urgent campaign that includes the following elements, among others it deems appropriate:

·  Seeking an urgent meeting with the Minister for Higher Education to press the case for changes to HE funding in line with policy and reporting back on this to members;

·        Organising a Parliamentary lobby to press the case for changes to HE funding in line with our policy, and to invite other HE unions and NUS to sponsor this but to go ahead with or without their support;

·        Approaching Labour Link to seek their support for our campaign for changes to HE funding in line with our policy;

·        Developing an open letter to the Westminster Government in line with our policy and seek signatures from members in the first place but also wider;

·        Developing a postcard campaign for members to send to MPs urging support for our policies;

·        Organising a briefing meeting at Labour Party conference that makes the case for changes to HE funding in line with our policies;

·        Working with the Regional HE Committees in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to develop equivalent campaigns that serve all of our members.

The branch instructs our representatives to propose an amended form of this motion to the SW HE Committee, which will mandate our representatives on the HE SGE to propose and support the above actions.

We, the joint trade union branches of UNISON at the University of the West of England (UWE) and the University of Bristol (UOB) call on the universities of Bristol to publicly support a ceasefire in Gaza.

Israel’s attacks on Gaza since October 7th 2023 have killed over 11,000 civilians including more than 4,000 children and has been unanimously condemned by UN agencies, with the situation now widely thought to amount to genocide and ethnic cleansing. National and local organisations including the UNISON branches at our universities have publicly condemned the continuing violence, called for a ceasefire, the release of hostages, and humanitarian aid for the Palestinians. We now urge both universities to do the same.

Our universities claim to be beacons of education, innovation and compassion that draw thousands of people to the city of Bristol every year with the promise of furthering their understanding of themselves and the world. If these institutions truly embody the values of humanity, they will join the growing chorus of public voices that call for a ceasefire in Gaza to prevent the indiscriminate killing of civilians, an end to the siege of Gaza by occupying forces, and for meaningful steps towards a lasting peace in Palestine. This must involve full diplomatic recognition of the State of Palestine by the UK, and concrete steps towards ending the Israeli Occupation, including through the removal of illegal Israeli settlements, the disarming of militant settler groups, and the release of Palestinian political prisoners (including all children).

We endorse the right to boycott Israel and for the campaign to Boycott, Divest and Sanction Israel which is supported by UNISON. Further, we endorse the call issued on 6^th November 2023, by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel for an academic boycott of Israel in response to widespread and indiscriminate military targeting of schools, hospitals, universities and their staff and students in Gaza.

We call on both universities of Bristol to investigate their own financial ties with Israel and divest from any sources of funding they have that are linked to Israel, its apartheid regime, and its illegal occupation of Palestinian territories.
Following the donations from the university branches of UNISON to the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, we are also asking that the universities in Bristol prioritise donating and/or fundraising to this charity, and encourage members of staff and students to do the same.

We call on both Bristol universities to publicly re-affirm their commitment to protecting academic freedom and freedom of speech including through lawful expressions of solidarity with Palestinians by their staff and students. This includes creating a more positive environment for all students and staff to lawfully express their views on these issues.

We call on the VC to respond to the Secretary of State for Education’s letter (11 October 2023) rejecting the dangerous implications of the letter’s injunction to using the Prevent agenda to stifle protected rights to free speech including through expressions of international solidarity, and in order to effectively discharge universities’ duty of care to all students and staff.
As esteemed institutions in the civic and cultural life of the city we urge both universities to publicly condemn the violence, call for a ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages and humanitarian aid for the Palestinians.  The University of the West and England and the University of Bristol must signal to their students, their staff, and the people of Bristol that they stand on the side of humanity and will do all that they can to support a peaceful resolution of this conflict”.

Statement endorsed by the following trades union branches:
UNISON Branch, University of the West of England
UNISON Branch, University of Bristol