When members can’t come to you, go to them

UNISON recommends that Higher Education members reject employers’ pay offer

This summer, UNISON members successfully secured meaningful pay rises in the NHS; but members elsewhere are getting ready to fight for real terms pay rises and a deal that recognises long term pay cuts.

Higher education workers across England are being consulted on their pay offer, with a view to rejecting it. The campaigns run reflect the resources available and the nature of the workplaces.

Adrian Dolby from University of Southampton branch explains:

“We held a members meeting and had a pretty solid turn out. But meetings are difficult for many of us to attend. With pressures from vacancy management it’s often impossible for our members to take the lunch breaks they’re owed.”

Adrian’s solution: to use Panopto, a piece of software he also uses in his workplace to record presentations for students.

“I used the same tools as the employer. Our members couldn’t come to us, so we decided go to them. I recorded the presentation, the branch uploaded it to YouTube and we sent out the link for members to watch in their own time – a bit like we do with presentations for the students I work with.

“It’s an experiment, trying out the resources available. It might not be game changing but it not enough to just do what we’ve always done.”

Watch Adrian’s presentation on YouTube.