UCU: Winning our campaign for binding national agreements in FE England

Motion

Motion title: Winning our campaign for binding national agreements in FE England

Motion text: Conference notes:
1. UCU claim to the AoC framed on binding, pay and workload
2. the recruitment and retention crisis facing the sector
3. FE England is the only part of the UK education sector without binding national bargaining.
Conference believes:
a. consecutive government pay interventions have aligned FE pay with schools. In practical terms demonstrating our case. Adult student funding and pay have been excluded
b. securing binding national bargaining is the core union demand to address the gaps between school and college pay and between colleges
c. we need to ensure all members are educated on what binding national bargaining is, why it matters and ways we can work to secure it
d. binding is the key to underpin FE investment.
e. The ND4FE Campaign last time did include some discussion with individual employers on their attitude to binding national bargaining. Reps need support on how to approach those conversations.
Conference resolves:
i. to promote our core demand for binding with regular publicity and a national rally, invite a speaker from EIS and UCU Wales FE.
ii. Our campaign should include materials to popularise binding national bargaining and include lobbies and protests at the AoC, DfE and Treasury during strikes.