51福利

51福利/589 听听听听May 2014听听

University and College Union

Carlow Street, London NW1 7LH, Tel. 020 7756 2500, www.ucu.org.uk

To听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听 FE Sector Conference, Branch and local association secretaries

Topic听听听听听听听听听听听听听 Developing Meaningful Collective Bargaining in England

Action听听听听听听听听听听听 For conference approval

Summary 听听听听 Paper referred to in Amendment FE1A.1听听听听听 听听听听听听听听听

 

CONFIDENTIAL: NOT FOR CIRCULATION

51福利 ONLY

 

DEVELOPING MEANINGFUL COLLECTIVE BARGAINING IN ENGLAND

 

 

SUMMARY

 

This report notes the decision made by FEC on 7 March and the special FESC on 5 April. It provides no more than an outline of how to develop an approach for meaningful collective bargaining in the FE, Adult and Prison sectors. It concludes with recommendations on the next steps.

 

Devolution Impact: although this report is primarily concerned with the negotiations on behalf of our members in England, it should be noted that 51福利 has successfully developed a new, national, approach to bargaining in Wales. In Northern Ireland, 51福利 is contending with an employer-led review that wishes to shift the bargaining locus. Although we do not organise FE members in Scotland, there has also been a review in bargaining to reflect changes in public policy and college organisation.

 

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

 

Sector conference

 

路         Approves the report

路         Agrees to the phased approach outlined

路         Agrees that a further report should be made to FEC and branches in the autumn

 

 

 

 

1.听听听听听听 INTRODUCTION

 

On 7 March, FEC agreed that,

听

鈥淭hat the secretariat report on different types of national collective bargaining to bring back to a future FEC a draft plan for developing meaningful collective bargaining in the FE, Adult and Prison sectors.鈥�

 

At the requisitioned special sector conference held on 5 April, the following policy motion was carried:

 

Conference notes that:

 

路         A minority of FE colleges in England implement the exact outcome of settlements reached with the AoC;

路         Others implement local variations, often with strings;

路         Over 30% of colleges do not implement the award;

路         AoC continue to restrict the range of matters that agreement can be reached on at national level

 

Conference believes that the current negotiating machinery is failing to deliver meaningful agreements for our members.

 

Conference instructs the FEC to develop a strategy for meaningful collective bargaining in the FE, Adult and Prison sectors. An initial report should be made to the May 2014 FESC. It should cover how to:

 

路         Target action to support claims established by 51福利 nationally.

路         Provide union-wide support for local disputes of strategic importance.

路         Provide information systems to support the establishment of claims.

路         Provide national oversight of negotiations.

 

This report provides an outline of the further work required to implement the decision of FEC and conference policy.

 

In a short report, it is impossible to cover adequately the historical developments that have led to the current 鈥榥ational bargaining鈥� arrangements. However, the genesis of the current arrangements can be traced back to the incorporation of FE colleges in 1993.

 

In recent years, it could be argued that the machinery has become discredited. It is suggested that the last national campaign that produced some successful outcomes was the IOU campaign in 2008.

 

Our effectiveness as an effective bargaining agent on behalf of our members will have an effect on membership levels and density and engagement in industrial disputes.

 

There is the prospect of ever-increasing competition from other unions within our sphere of influence in FE.

 

 

2.听听听听听听 DIFFERENT TYPES OF NATIONAL BARGAINING

 

There are five broad categories of national bargaining:

 

     i.        Single-employer private sector agreements in large multi-site organisations. These set national pay and grading structures, mostly with zonal arrangements (e.g. Tesco, Sainsbury鈥檚, BT, RBS,HSBC, Barclays).

    ii.        Multi-employer industrial agreements setting actual rates of pay (e.g. Electrical Contracting JIB, Engineering Construction NJC).

   iii.        Multi-employer industry agreements setting minimum rates of pay and terms and conditions. This is known as two-tier bargaining and member companies often set higher levels of pay and conditions than the national minimums (building and Allied Trades JIC, the printing industry).

   iv.        Multi-employer public sector agreements. These set national pay spines and allow some local interpretation of fitting people to grades in a form of two-tier bargaining (e.g. local government, universities).

    v.        Single employer public sector agreements that set nationally agreed pay structures with zonal arrangements for London and the South East (e.g. the NHS Pay Review Body, DWP, HMRC, and the School Teachers Review Body).

 

The national arrangements in FE could be considered a form of multi-employer arrangement. However, at present it is not clear that the nationally recommended pay spine and annual uplift, even as a minima, is adhered to by sufficient numbers of colleges to make national bargaining more than notional.

 

3.听听听听听听 MEETING THE CHALLENGE

 

Given this divergence in the pay rates and conditions between colleges, there is a need for the 51福利 to consider a strategic and systematic approach to persuade the employers back to a position where nationally binding agreements look a sensible proposition.

 

Not only should we be working to re-establish norms for the 鈥榬ate for the job鈥� but we should also be seeking to expand our bargaining agenda to take account of the concerns raised by members about their working lives, for example, hours of work.

 

To meet the challenge to genuine collective bargaining there is a need to:

 

路         Keep a coherent and co-ordinated national approach

路         Build our capacity to analyse sector-wide and institutional data

路         Discuss issues of union form and the need for discipline

路         Adopt appropriate and engagement sign-off arrangements

 

It will take time and resources to develop the information systems necessary for careful targeting and valid comparisons, to reach shared understandings, and to develop a tactical approach

 

The Bargaining and Negotiations team is already undertaking preparatory work, looking at institutional data.

 

 

4.听听听听听听 PHASED APPROACH

 

Accepting that it will take time to adopt a new approach, there is still the need to deal with the current negotiations. It is recommended that a phased approach is adopted.

 

Phase 1 鈥� Initial steps for 2014 negotiating round

 

路         Identify target colleges 鈥� 1 per region 鈥� that consider the following factors:

o    No pay increase awarded in 2012 or 2013 or;

o    The amount implemented locally was below the national recommendation, and

o    Analysis of the accounts indicates that the college could afford to pay an increase

o    Levels of branch organisation

路         Gain the branches agreement to reissue the national claim locally along with a claim on a local issue

路         Target regional and national support to the negotiations

 

Phase 2 鈥� developing the systems and approach

 

路         Develop a bargaining information system that will allow analysis of

o    College finance

o    Staffing information, including identifying variance of local scales with the 8-point scale and the national pay spine

路         Develop appropriate (not resource intensive) mechanisms for national oversight

路         Develop and agree national negotiating objectives

路         Develop an approach to take account of single-table bargaining

路         Target local institutions failing to pay the 鈥榓greed鈥� national norms

 

Phase 3 鈥� implementing the new approach

 

路         National claim submitted to AoC - % increase with comparators

路         National template, covering the above plus local issues (clawing back to national norms and other local issues)

路         National campaign of action

路         National oversight of settlement points

 

5.听听听听听听 NEXT STEPS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

In the time available, it has only been possible to sketch the general outline of a new approach. Preparatory work to develop the data necessary to for a new strategy. A progress report will be made to FEC and branches in the autumn.

Recommendations

Sector conference:

 

1.听听听听听听 Approves the report

2.听听听听听听 Agrees to the phased approach outlined

3.听听听听听听 Agrees that a further report should be made to FEC and branches in the autumn