ÄûÃʵ¼º½

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

Section 2: Business of the Strategy and Finance Committee (open session)

Section 2.2: Working with other unions and political overview

16  No 'honey-moon' for a Labour government - Westminster Kingsway College

Notes:

1. the coming general election
2. 15 years of Tory government
3. the Labour Party's adoption of Tory policies.

Believes that:

1. millions of workers want to see the end of this Tory government and attacks on workers at home and abroad
2. Keir Starmer's Labour Party is preparing the ground for more privatisations, more cuts in public spending and more wars abroad
3. if Labour win the general election we need to prepare to organise to resist them introducing more austerity
4. the best way to stop a future Labour government carrying out a Tory agenda is by striking.

Resolves to:

1. lobby the Labour Party to introduce more funding for the post-16 education sector
2. encourage and support all those who are prepared to strike in the run up to and in the week of the general election to amplify our demands.

Taken in parts:
Believes D and Resolves ii: CARRIED

Substantive motion: CARRIED

17  Inequality crises in food, housing, health, social care and transport - Yorkshire and Humberside retired members

Congress notes that:

1. people are experiencing a cost-of-living crisis and social crises in provision of food, housing, health and social care and transport
2. these inequality crises affect learning opportunities and educational attainment
3. all these issues need raising in general elections
4. these crises affect people internationally, especially in countries devastated by war, such as Palestine, Sudan and Ukraine.

Congress calls on present and future UK governments to legislate and act to:

1. provide food security, via adequate incomes, better nutritional standards and acceptable, affordable food for the population, ending dependence on food banks
2. rapidly provide adequate social housing and enforce privately rented sector regulations
3. address the crisis of funding and staffing in health and social care
4. invest in public transport and return it to dependable public ownership
5. pursue international policies which tackle global poverty and provide humanitarian aid and just and peaceful settlements to countries devastated by war and/or climate change.

CARRIED AS AMENDED

17A.1  Disabled Members Standing Committee

Add new 5:

5. the inequality crisis impacts the life chances, education and employment opportunities for disabled people.

Add new f:

6. make all public transport accessible for disabled people as a top priority

Add new g:

7. fully fund and guarantee independent living for disabled people through building social housing which meets their needs.

CARRIED

17A.2  Anti-Casualisation Committee

Add new 4 and renumber accordingly:

4. the increasing amount of casualised and precarious work which is undermining existing terms and conditions

Insert new a. and renumber accordingly:

1. enhance job security by banning Zero Hours Contracts and reducing insecure and casualised employment to an absolute minimum in line with existing union recommendations.

CARRIED

17A.3 Southern regional committee

Add at end:

Furthermore, anticipating a general election in 2024, Congress instructs the NEC to work with the TUC and others to lobby for the reconstruction of Britain's shattered public services to be the highest priority for an in-coming government.

CARRIED

18  TPS Survivor Pensions - Retired members committee

Congress notes:

1. that recipients of TPS survivor pensions, where the TPS pensioner retired before 2007, are contacted annually by TPS and required to declare whether or not they have remarried or formed a new relationship and lose the pension if they have done so
2. that this requirement can cause considerable distress to the survivor in receipt of a TPS pension
3. that the withdrawal of the TPS survivor pension can cause financial hardship.

Congress believes:

1. that survivor pensions should not be withdrawn on remarriage or the formation of a new partnership
2. that such a provision is an invasion of privacy and undermines the right to marriage and to a personal life.

Congress calls on NEC to work with other teacher unions in TPS to remove this provision so that survivors of TPS members who retired before 2007 are treated as favourably as survivors of TPS members who retired after 2007.

CARRIED

19  Joint membership schemes with Unite, UNISON and NEU - University of Sheffield

Congress notes:

1. ÄûÃʵ¼º½ currently has joint membership schemes with 10 trade unions, but not yet Unite, UNISON, or NEU.
2. alongside ÄûÃʵ¼º½, Unite, UNISON, and NEU are three of the most common trade unions for tertiary education staff in terms of membership.

Congress believes joint membership may be beneficial for improving branch density, increasing/expanding local recognition agreements, and increasing the impact of industrial action.

Congress resolves

1. to ask the relevant NEC subcommittee to develop a proposal for joint membership agreements with Unite, UNISON, and NEU
2. to authorise NEC to approve said joint membership agreements, approach relevant bodies within Unite, UNISON, and NEU, and implement them prior to Congress 2025
3. to request a report on these agreements to be provided to branches at the point of implementation, and a report on their take up to date to be provided to Congress 2025.

CARRIED AS AMENDED

19A.1  Composite: Glasgow Caledonian University; University of Edinburgh

In the motion title, delete 'and' after 'UNISON', add comma after 'UNISON' and add the following text 'and EIS in Scotland'

In 'notes' point 1, delete 'or' after 'UNISON' and after 'NEU' add ', or EIS'.

In 'notes' point 2, delete 'and' after 'UNISON' and after 'NEU' add 'and, in Scotland, EIS'

In 'resolves' point a. delete 'and' after 'UNISON' and after 'NEU' and 'and EIS'

In 'resolves' point b. delete 'and' after 'UNISON' and after 'NEU' and 'and EIS'

CARRIED

19A.2  Academic-related professional services staff committee

Add a new point a. under "Congress resolves.." (and renumber subsequent points):

1. to set up a working group to scope out the feasibility of joint membership agreements and to consult with branches and sister unions on this topic.

Amend original point a. to add "Following a positive conclusion from this group," at the start.

CARRIED

20  Professionalisation of services - Academic related professional services committee

Congress notes:

1. many PS roles are highly skilled
2. there are many professional bodies which exist to serve the needs of these highly skilled roles

Congress believes that ongoing CPD training is crucial to staff development where appropriate to enable them to successfully carry out their roles and also meet changes in legislation.

Congress resolves to:

1. call upon NEC to call for universities and colleges to recognise and subscribe/affiliate to the government accredited organisations within the sector and provide essential training to maintain professional standards
2. ask ÄûÃʵ¼º½ to invite relevant professional bodies to have a presence at ÄûÃʵ¼º½ Congress to promote their existence and for ÄûÃʵ¼º½ ARPS to explore having a presence at the reciprocal conferences.

CARRIED

21  Developing Pro-Labour Movement Media - University of Essex

Conference notes:

1. the current UK media ecosystem is dominated by a handful of powerful corporations
2. it therefore not only fails to serve the interests of working people, but actively undermines them.

Conference believes:

1. unions could do far more to collectively build an interconnected system of communication assets
2. this could take the form of low-budget, low-risk formats like podcasts and YouTube channels, hosted on a cooperatively owned version of subscription-based content hosting platforms like Patreon, enabling successful projects to pay for themselves and fund new projects rather than draining union resources
3. a set of popular media assets with loyal audiences would be a powerful tool to proactively reshape mass opinion and intervene strategically at key moments to protect members' interests and degrade anti-union attacks.

Conference resolves:

1. ÄûÃʵ¼º½ should initiate discussions with other unions to collectively allocate resources to building the kind of interconnected system of communication assets described above.

Note, further to CBC's ordering of amendments: Nothing in this amendment (21A.1) can be interpreted as affecting the roles, responsibilities, or reporting structures of ÄûÃʵ¼º½ staff.

CARRIED AS AMENDED

21A.1  Yorkshire and Humberside regional committee

Add under notes:

4. democratic ownership and accountability can ensure that our media content matches the ethos of the campaigning work that our members, branches, regions and nations are engaged in
5. our democratic structures were not designed for the social media era.

Add under resolves:

2. Congress instructs the NEC to explore a mechanism of democratic oversight of ÄûÃʵ¼º½ media projects, led by lay-elected representatives from either the NEC or wider ÄûÃʵ¼º½ membership.

CARRIED

Section 2.6: The TUC

22  Composite: Resisting anti-union legislation (minimum service levels) - Open University, University of Cambridge

Congress notes:

1. the passing of the 'Strikes (Minimum Service Levels)' Act 2023 and the publication of the first regulations
2. ÄûÃʵ¼º½'s policy of opposition to this law
3. that the TUC has called on the entire trade union movement to observe a policy of non-compliance - the resolution of the TUC Special Congress on 9 December included a commitment that unions will 'refuse to instruct members to cross picket lines'
4. ASLEF's success in forcing LNER to withdraw the threat to issue work-notices by calling additional strike days.

Congress believes:

1. the attack on the right to strike is part of a wider offensive on our democratic rights to protest and organise and trade unions must mobilise to protect our rights through campaigns of strikes, protests and civil disobedience
2. to meaningfully enact the TUC Special Congress resolution, unions must refuse to 'take reasonable steps' to ensure members comply with work notices, and strike in defiance of potential injunctions
3. the labour movement must step up campaigning not only against the most recent law, but for the repeal of all anti-union and anti-strike laws.

Congress resolves:

1. NEC to coordinate with other unions to brief members about the new law and TUC/union policies opposing the law, and to discuss organising defiance
2. to instruct branches via the GS not to comply with any 'work notice' issued by employers under the Act by:

• not supplying any information on members who would be required to work in order to implement a 'minimum service level' during strike action
• calling on all balloted members to strike and respect picket lines
• escalating to national strike action to defend branches or members facing legal action as a result of non-compliance.

CARRIED

23  Single Employment Status - Anti-casualisation committee

Congress notes:

1. that those designated 'workers' rather than 'employees' are denied basic employment rights such as notice periods, protection against unfair dismissal, and redundancy rights.
2. regretfully, Lord John Hendy's Status of Workers Bill, which would have corrected this injustice, did not become law.
3. 1 in 9 workers are in insecure work - a total of 3.7 million workers
4. 67% of those in insecure work do not receive sick pay
5. Labour have committed to introduce Single Employment Status, but has rowed back on guaranteeing full employee rights from day one of employment.

Congress resolves:

1. to work with other trade unions to exert pressure on the next government to introduce Single Employment Status legislation and guarantee full employment rights from day one of employment.
2. submit a motion to TUC Congress calling for the TUC to campaign for Single Employment Status on this basis.

CARRIED

24  Postal services and the right to use electronic voting - Yorkshire and Humberside regional committee

ÄûÃʵ¼º½ Congress notes:

1. the impact of privatisation of the Royal Mail and subsequent decline in frequency of postal deliveries.
2. that problems with postal delivery can impact negatively on trade union organisation and union democracy, if ballot papers in industrial action ballots and trade union elections do not arrive in good time.
3. ÄûÃʵ¼º½ declares solidarity with postal workers campaigning to defend the quality of postal services and jobs. Relatedly, ÄûÃʵ¼º½ reaffirms our call for the nationalisation of public infrastructure, secure jobs and a fair deal for all workers.

ÄûÃʵ¼º½ calls for the abolition of all anti-trade union laws, and for the right of unions to use electronic voting in union elections and industrial action ballots.

Furthermore, ÄûÃʵ¼º½ calls on the TUC to examine this problem with urgency and to continue lobbying the government for the right of unions to use electronic voting in union elections and industrial action ballots.

CARRIED

25  Turn out at ÄûÃʵ¼º½ elections - Liverpool City College (Vauxhall)

Notes

1. the participation in the recent elections.

Believes

1. the low turn out could be improved by electronic means and
2. engaging methods to encourage the membership to use their vote and participate in elections.

Resolves

1. to investigate the move to electronic ballots for GS & VP elections
2. to investigate the reasons for low turn out.

CARRIED

26  Composite: Oppose a 'pre-war' world - Welfare not warfare - CCCG City and Islington College (Camden Road), University of Brighton

Notes:

1. government spending on arms has increased by £7.1bn (£3.7%) more than any other department. These figures do not include the military assistance of £2.3bn given to Ukraine
2. Grant Shapps's January speech declaring we are now in 'a pre-war world'
3. the ongoing slaughter that is taking place in Gaza, Yemen, Ukraine and elsewhere, and the threat of war in the South China sea
4. the policy passed at TUC 2023 supporting an increase in arms spending.

Believes that:

1. inter-imperialist rivalry is creating more wars across the globe
2. the Tory government is preparing the UK involvement in more wars
3. 'welfare not warfare' must remain a key slogan for the movement
4. it is in the interests of the trade union movement to advocate for peace.

Congress resolves that ÄûÃʵ¼º½ submit a motion/amendment to this year's TUC congress calling on government to reverse the rise in arms expenditure.

CARRIED

Section 2.7: European and international work

27  International solidarity and cooperation - National executive committee

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1. notes the global growth in right wing populism and the increasing assaults on labour rights, EDI and educational freedoms
2. welcomes international activities to defend workers and students under threat in countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Palestine, Sudan and Ukraine and our support for global campaigns on climate justice
3. recognises the value of internationalism and of joint work with sister unions and affiliated organisations like Education International in response to common challenges
4. recognises the value of mutual learning from international union partners in areas like collective bargaining, education policy and equality
5. calls on NEC to continue to engage members, branches and regions in practical international work, including the use of webinars, e-actions and solidarity actions and visits.  

CARRIED AS AMENDED

27A.1  West Midlands regional committee

After 'justice' in point 2 add: 'and aims to seek an apology from the British Government for all imperialist-driven atrocities, particularly the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919.'

After 'equality' in point 4 add: 'including decolonisation'

CARRIED

28  International solidarity with marginalised workers and unions abroad - Migrant members standing committee

Congress notes ÄûÃʵ¼º½'s long standing policies and work on international solidarity and cooperation.

Congress believes:

1. we all benefit when experiences across unions, including those outside the education sector, are shared with us
2. resource disparity & discriminatory visa policies make it difficult for union representatives from the Global South to share their experiences
3. individuals from conflict zones or marginalised groups particularly face barriers to education.

Congress resolves:

1. for ÄûÃʵ¼º½ to fund costs of a guest speaker from a sister union to attend a major ÄûÃʵ¼º½ event, such as the Equality Groups conference or Congress, to share their experiences
2. that the representative will be from the Global South or a historically marginalised group, and will attend the ÄûÃʵ¼º½ event in person, if so preferred
3. for ÄûÃʵ¼º½ to lobby UK government to establish mobility visa schemes and financial support for people from conflict zones or marginalised groups to access post-16 education in the UK.

CARRIED AS AMENDED

28A.1  University of Oxford

Add new point d. to 'Congress resolves':

4. Oppose and call for the retraction of the announcements of the UK Home Secretary on December 4, 2023, regarding skilled worker migrants, salary thresholds, social care workers, migrant family defendants, and potential cancellation of the Graduate Visa.

CARRIED

29  Ukraine: continuing solidarity and support for the right to self-defence - Oxford Brookes University, University of Bristol

Congress declares its support for the right of the Ukrainian people to self-determination and self-defence.

It salutes the continuing resistance of the Ukrainian people, including their trade unions, to Russian imperialist invasion and occupation.

Congress resolves to build solidarity with Ukraine and its labour movement, including:

1. support for financial appeals for medical, educational and humanitarian projects
2. support for Ukrainian refugees
3. solidarity rallies and demonstrations
4. holding webinars to educate ourselves about Ukraine
5. encouraging twinning arrangements with Ukrainian universities and colleges
6. demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory
7. endorses the appeal of the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine calling on the international trade union movement to call on governments to continue providing humanitarian aid and military aid to Ukraine.

Congress resolves to affiliate to the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign and to encourage branches and regions to invite USC speakers to their meetings.

TAKEN IN PARTS:
Last sentence beginning 'Congress resolves to affiliate...': CARRIED
Resolves 7 as amended by 29.A2 (B24): CARRIED
SUBSTANTIVE MOTION: CARRIED

29A.1  Women Members Standing Committee

Add new point:

'ÄûÃʵ¼º½ to join with Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine; and support COVAW-II project for full intersectional implementation of the Istanbul Convention in Ukraine. The conflict causes invisible and visible violence against women and children, lgtbq+ women, and women with disabilities including family separation, exploitation; gender-based violence, rape, lack of menstrual care, risk of physical harm and injury, lack of pregnancy (ante natal and post-natal) care and limited access to sexual and reproductive health'

CARRIED

(29A.2) B24  City and Islington College, Camden Road Branch; University of Brighton

Delete 'and military aid' from penultimate paragraph.

Add new 7, "to call for an immediate ceasefire"

CARRIED

Substantive motion

Congress declares its support for the right of the Ukrainian people to self-determination and self-defence.

It salutes the continuing resistance of the Ukrainian people, including their trade unions, to Russian imperialist invasion and occupation.

Congress resolves to build solidarity with Ukraine and its labour movement, including:

1. support for financial appeals for medical, educational and humanitarian projects
2. support for Ukrainian refugees
3. solidarity rallies and demonstrations
4. holding webinars to educate ourselves about Ukraine
5. encouraging twinning arrangements with Ukrainian universities and colleges
6. demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory
7. endorses the appeal of the Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine calling on the international trade union movement to call on governments to continue providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine
8. to call for an immediate ceasefire
9. ÄûÃʵ¼º½ to join with Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine; and support COVAW-II project for full intersectional implementation of the Istanbul Convention in Ukraine. The conflict causes invisible and visible violence against women and children, lgtbq+ women, and women with disabilities including family separation, exploitation; gender-based violence, rape, lack of menstrual care, risk of physical harm and injury, lack of pregnancy (ante natal and post-natal) care and limited access to sexual and reproductive health

Congress resolves to affiliate to the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign and to encourage branches and regions to invite USC speakers to their meetings.

30  Challenge Milei's Agenda, Stand with Argentinian Workers - CCCG City and Islington College (Finsbury Park)

Notes:

1. Javier Milei advocates extreme right-wing policies aimed at eradicating labour rights, gender equality, the right to protest, and environmental standards
2. his proposed reforms, often described as 'Thatcherism on steroids' entail suspending public sector labour contracts, privatising state-owned enterprises, and drastically altering labour laws to the detriment of workers and their unions
3. Milei's authoritarian rhetoric, such as suggesting protestors should face 'prison or bullet' necessitates international vigilance against assaults on Argentinian workers, socialists, the LGBTQ+ community, and social movements.

Believes:

1. it is imperative to support Argentinian workers, socialists, environmental activists, the LGBTQ+ community, and social movements in resisting persecution for their politics
2. we stand in solidarity with these groups and advocate for their rights and causes.

Resolves:

1. Congress urges ÄûÃʵ¼º½ to demonstrate active solidarity by inviting the aforementioned campaigners to the UK to raise awareness among ÄûÃʵ¼º½ members.

CARRIED

31  Uyghur Muslims: The continuing silence of UKHE about genocide - University of Leicester 

Congress notes:

1. ÄûÃʵ¼º½ has consistently spoke out about atrocities taking place across the world given its commitment to justice
2. Uyghur Muslims in China have suffered prolonged oppression and genocide. This is evidenced by mass surveillance, arbitrary arrest enforced disappearance and cultural erasure
3. extension of surveillance and oppression has included use of genetic and facial profiling of ethnic groups. These results have been published in UKHE and Western journals
4. UKHE continues to prioritise and pursue financial interests in China with no consideration of its duty to speak out and act as a conscience for this oppressed group. 

Congress resolves:

1. to voice unequivocal support for Uyghur Muslims
2. to urge UKHE to join ÄûÃʵ¼º½ in refraining from this unacceptable silence.

CARRIED

32  Composite: Solidarity with Palestine - Disabled members standing committee, ÄûÃʵ¼º½ Cymru, London retired members

Congress notes:

1. since 7th October, an estimated 30,676 Palestinians and 1,139 Israelis have been killed, building on decades of precedent
2. the Senedd and a UN General Assembly majority have voted for an immediate ceasefire
3. tor disabled Palestinians, escaping conflict zones becomes an effective death sentence
4. deaf or blind individuals struggle to receive evacuation orders, while those with intellectual disabilities may be unable to communicate their whereabouts
5. physical disabilities hinder mobility, making it impossible to navigate rubble or travel long distances
6. before 7th October, 21% of households in Gaza had at least one member with a disability.

Congress believes:

1. the Israeli response to the Hamas attacks amounts to genocide, ethnic cleansing and collective punishment of Palestinians
2. disabled people are considered more vulnerable to the impact of conflicts because they face greater barriers to accessing safety and humanitarian assistance than many others. This puts them at an increased risk of serious injuries, death, sexual assault, and other forms of harm. In long-lasting armed conflicts, the prevalence of disability is significantly high.

Congress resolves:

1. to call for an immediate ceasefire and end to Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories
2. to call on the UK government and all UK political parties to support an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza
3. to call for the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli gaols.

CARRIED AS AMENDED

32A.1  London Regional Committee

Add 'more than' after 'Since 7th October' in Congress notes 1.

Add 'At least 77,229 Palestinians in Gaza have since been injured in Israel's genocidal assault.' at the end of Congress notes 6.

CARRIED

32A.2  Women Members Standing Committee

Add after iii,

'ÄûÃʵ¼º½ to campaign for trauma-informed services and protections, aid, and safe space for women, children, pregnant women, lgbtq+, and women with disabilities in Palestine. Women suffer invisible gender-based violence, disproportionate discrimination, inhuman and degrading sexual abuse by Israeli soldiers, rape, denial of menstrual products, and lack of access to food and medicine. Women with disabilities are increasing exacerbated by limited services, lack of education, lack of resources, and dependence on guardians'.

CARRIED

33  Composite: In defence of Palestinian rights, free speech and academic freedom - University of Warwick, ÄûÃʵ¼º½ Cymru, University of Liverpool, London regional committee, Kings College London

Congress notes:

1. in the UK, academic freedom and free speech are being threatened for Palestinians and their supporters. Islamophobia and antisemitism have increased
2. the growth of the Palestine solidarity movement against Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza, settler-colonialism, and apartheid
3. the attempt to suppress Palestine advocacy in colleges and universities and critical scholarly work on the Middle East and North Africa in UK HE
4. the call by Scholars for Palestine,
5. genocidal assault on Gaza, the destruction of all its universities, and the targeted killing of its scholars
6. ongoing disruption of West Bank Palestinian universities, administrative detention of students and staff, and the Israeli military quota on visiting scholars
7. established role of Israeli universities in the maintenance of the apartheid system; and
8. attacks on Palestinian advocacy and teaching and research critical of Israel on UK campuses
9. intervention by Oxford University to deny debate to a branch motion calling for a 'Socialist Intifada' in the Middle East. The censorship by UCL of the UCL ÄûÃʵ¼º½ branch website for passing a similar motion; and Breaking into ÄûÃʵ¼º½ offices at Queen Mary University of London to remove a ÄûÃʵ¼º½ 'Ceasefire Now' poster and one calling for an end to 'Israeli apartheid', both protected free speech
10. the launch meeting of Campus Voices for Palestine on 25 January at UCL and the BRICUP-organised tour of campuses with follow-up events.

Congress believes:

1. industrial action was important in supporting the struggle against apartheid in South Africa
2. we need to mobilise working class power to end the genocide in Gaza and cut ties with the settler-colonial, apartheid state of Israel
3. this is crucial to defending our own working conditions and academic freedom
4. attacks such as those at the branches above parallel those made on individual union members for free speech on Palestine. But they also concern the independent democratic functioning of union branches.

Congress resolves to:

1. defend staff/student rights to demonstrate in solidarity with Palestinians by mobilizing members against any attempt by employers or the government to silence us. We must campaign publicly to defend free speech and academic freedom, particularly in support of Palestinian rights
2. ensure ÄûÃʵ¼º½ robustly defends branches from attack by employers, including with legal support
3. launch a campaign to remove all restrictions on our right to strike, including over issues of social justice, against war and imperialism - and in the fight for a free Palestine
4. step up the pressure to end the war on Gaza and join the international movement calling for an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire by establishing a grassroots solidarity committee, working with existing initiatives, to undertake work towards:
   • ending British universities' involvement in the arms trade and complicit institutions - Organise to end university investments, contracts or cooperation agreements with weapons companies supplying Israel and complicit institutions. To campaign vigorously and publicly to support the call for the USS and other pension funds to divest from companies complicit in Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people
   • building academic links with Palestinian universities and academics - Explore collaborative initiatives such as twinnings, exchanges, joint projects, scholarship programmes, academic fellowships and partnerships that contribute positively to the Palestinian educational sector.

CARRIED AS AMENDED

33A.1  LGBT+ Members' Standing Committee

Add at the end of 'resolves':

5. publish and circulate to all members the statement on Palestine written by the ÄûÃʵ¼º½ Black Members Standing Committee in autumn 2023, which provides important political background and guidance on Palestine for ÄûÃʵ¼º½ members.

CARRIED

Note: ÄûÃʵ¼º½'s existing policy is one of support for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) and its implementation within the constraints of the existing law (Congress motion 31, 2010). The union has previously followed, and continues to follow, advice from King's Counsel that it would be unlawful and beyond the powers of the union to call for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. Support for BDS can only be understood and operated within that legal limitation.

34  Ceasefire now. For a free Palestine - New City College Tower Hamlets (Poplar)

Notes: The Israeli state' barbaric military campaign on the people of Gaza. Over 30,000 Palestinians had been killed.

Believes:

1. the Israeli government is guilty of war crimes and ethnic cleansing
2. the two-state solution is unviable
3. peace can only be achieved by establishing a single democratic secular state in Israel/Palestine where Muslims, Jews, Christians and all people who live there have equal rights. These rights must include the right to return for all Palestinians
4. the current state of Israel cannot offer security for Jews as its existence is dependent on continued oppression of the Palestinian people who will inevitably resist
5. that anti-Zionism is not antisemitism.

Resolves:

1. continue to support calls for an immediate ceasefire, release of prisoners and hostages
2. oppose moves by the Tory government to legally restrict shows of solidarity with Palestine, such as legislation banning BDS campaigns
3. oppose any attempts by employers to conflate anti-Zionism with antisemitism.

TAKEN IN PARTS
Believes 3: LOST

SUBSTANTIVE MOTION (without 'believes 3'): CARRIED

35  Workers unite for Palestine and against the wider war! - King's College London

Congress notes:

1. military escalation in the Middle East following Israel's attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on 1 April
2. RAF support for Israel during Iran's 13 April counterattack
3. intensified Israeli attacks on Palestinians and threat of Rafah invasion
4. international mobilisation for Palestine and public support for a UK arms embargo on Israel.

Congress believes:

1. workers' actions are key to stopping Israel's genocide and the wider war it is fuelling.

Congress resolves to:

1. support workers' pro-Palestine mobilisations in the Middle East and publicly condemn their repression
2. endorse grassroots network University & College Workers for Palestine
3. coordinate walkouts against Israel's genocide, Rafah invasion and wider war
4. call for an immediate arms embargo on Israel and oppose British forces deployment in Israel's support
5. offer full support to members refusing to undertake contracted duties which risk complicity in war crimes.

CARRIED

36  Solidarity with Palestine protests on US campuses - University of Brighton

Congress notes:

1. the attempted suppression of Palestine solidarity protests on US campuses
2. that university managements have called the police on their own students citing intimidation and trespass
3. the hundreds of arrests at Columbia, NYU and Yale
4. the spread of the movement to other institutions including Brown, Princeton, MIT, and UC Berkeley.

Congress believes:

1. students are right to protest their government and institutions' complicity with Israeli genocide
2. freedom to protest and dissent are fundamental rights, especially in education institutions.

Congress resolves:

1. to send messages of solidarity from ÄûÃʵ¼º½ to the student Palestine solidarity movement in the US
2. to write to the Principals of universities protesting the arrests and disciplining of student protesters
3. to encourage and facilitate branches to invite speakers from the US movement to ÄûÃʵ¼º½ meetings
4. to continue to support ÄûÃʵ¼º½ involvement in campus protests in the UK against Israel's genocide and in solidarity with the Palestinians.

CARRIED

37 Composite: Gaza Family Scheme - University of Oxford, London regional committee

Congress notes

1. Israel continues to bombard Gaza, where the death toll has surpassed 34,000
2. existing routes out of Gaza and into the UK are insufficient. Gazans are faced with expensive border charges and the UK Home Office's biometric requirements
3. the UK government has previously introduced pathways for those fleeing persecution in Ukraine and Hong Kong
4. 100,000+ people have signed a petition calling for a Gaza Family Scheme which will be debated on 13 May.

Congress believes

1. the UK government should establish a Gaza Family Scheme with the right of return protected in line with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Congress resolves to call on ÄûÃʵ¼º½ to:

1. to sign the trade unions
2. to call on the UK government to establish a Palestinian Family Scheme with the right of return protected in line with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
3. use its lobbying power in Parliament to vouch for the scheme and to send a representative to Parliamentary debates pertaining to the scheme.

CARRIED

L1  Campaign against deportations to Rwanda - Westminster Kingsway College

Congress notes:

1. since the first weekend of May there has been an increase in asylum seekers being detained as the Home Office prepares to deport individuals to Rwanda
2. the decision to extend deportations to Rwanda to those who have been refused asylum in the UK.

Congress believes:

1. this policy is racist and breaks international human rights law
2. all trade unions must defend the human rights and dignity of those seeking safety and refuge
3. we must reject the government's vile politics of racist divide and rule, which is intensifying, dangerously fuelling, and enabling the growth of the far right.

Congress resolves:

1. share resources on migrants' rights and campaigns to stop deportations
2. support Stand Up To Racism's national demonstration, Saturday 29^th June to #StopRwanda detention, deportations, and flights
3. publicise the counter-protest to unite against Tommy Robinson, Saturday 1^st June.

REMITTED (not taken)

B1  Outsourcing and redundancies - SOAS

Congress notes

1. SOAS have placed 34 Foundation College teaching staff in a redundancy pool with compulsory redundancies imminent
2. affected staff teach language and study skills support for international students. The proposed cuts endanger key teaching and study skills services impacting all SOAS programs
3. insessional English language support classes cut with outsourced online provision - Studiosity - replacing teaching hours
4. cuts are unnecessary as Foundation College and SOAS have a healthy surplus.

Congress believes

1. face-to-face teaching of language and study skills provide an essential service to university students; particularly foundation and international students
2. a switch from face-to-face teaching to outsourced online provision should never result in redundancies
3. consultation processes should fully involve staff and students.

Congress resolves

1. to support SOAS ÄûÃʵ¼º½ in its redundancy dispute and publicise staff/student campaign initiatives against redundancies
2. to monitor future moves replacing face-to-face teaching with outsourced online provision and support resulting disputes.

REMITTED (not taken)

B33  Reinstate Dr Faiza Shaheen - City, University of London; Birkbeck College, University of London; Royal College of Art; University of Leeds; Myerscough College; University of Bath; Manchester Metropolitan University; People Plus Prisons; London Retired Members; Imperial College

This Congress notes that:

1. Dr Faiza Shaheen, a ÄûÃʵ¼º½ member at LSE, was re-selected as the candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green by a clear majority of Labour members
2. the constituency was one of seven with a swing towards Labour in 2019, following a campaign involving hundreds of activists inside and outside of the Labour Party
3. the Labour Party NEC suspended Faiza on Wednesday following a meeting to which Faiza was given just a few hours' notice.

This Congress believes that:

1. the Labour NEC has hidden behind the disciplinary process to exclude left wing candidates who have popular support
2. the Labour Party disciplinary process has developed an appalling record in the way it has treated minorities.

This Congress resolves to:

1. offer its support and solidarity to Faiza
2. ask the General Secretary to work with the affiliated trade unions to demand Faiza's immediate reinstatement.

CARRIED

B34  On the snap General Election - NCG Lewisham College; City, University of London; CCCG Westminster Kingsway College; University of Bedfordshire; University College London; University of Derby; Morely College; Chesterfield College; Sunderland University; Westminster University; LJMU; Imperial College London

Congress notes:

1. the general election on 4 July
2. the landslide projected for Keir Starmer's Labour Party
3. but Starmer has launched a purge of left candidates and MPs, including Jeremy Corbyn, women of colour Diane Abbott and Faiza Shaheen (LSE ÄûÃʵ¼º½ member), each with a long connection with ÄûÃʵ¼º½ and trade union movement
4. the BMA Junior Doctors in England have called a strike for 27 - 2 July.

Congress believes the end of Conservative rule should begin the righting of wrongs of fourteen wasted years:

Congress resolves to

1. send messages of solidarity to Jeremy, Diane Abbott and Faiza Shaheen
2. call on branches to convene emergency branch meetings to discuss how the branch should lobby candidates over union objectives, including course closures and redundancies, Reclaim HE and the FE manifesto
3. send messages of support to the BMA, and encourage branches to twin with BMA branches, raise support, invite speakers, etc.

CARRIED

B35  Stop Office for Students Attacks on Post-16 Education - The Open University; University of Warwick; University of Sussex; Oldham College; University of Exeter; University of East Anglia; Swansea University; University of Wales Trinity Saint David; LSE; Luminate Education Group; University of the West of Scotland; Aberystwyth University; University of Glasgow

Congress notes

• Rishi Sunak's announcement on 29 May that if the Conservatives win the next election they will give the Office for Students (OfS)
• FE colleges providing vocational degree programmes and post-92 HE institutions would likely be at greatest risk of being targeted by the OfS, with serious equalities implications for staff and students
• Labour has not offered any assurances in response to ÄûÃʵ¼º½'s call to abolish the OfS (on grounds of 'authoritarian' free speech guidance and complicity in Prevent

Congress believes:

• that we cannot delay acting on this announcement, and that we cannot be certain that Labour will either win the general election or abolish the OfS.

Congress resolves:

• to publicly state that ÄûÃʵ¼º½ does not recognise the legitimacy of the Office for Students as a decision-making body, and to boycott its research, guidance, and advice.

CARRIED