ISU Membership Circular 19.6.18 Dear Member, Membership Benefits The ISU is the only Trade Union to offer compensation should you lose your shift pay as the result of absence.  This applies regardless of what type of shift pay you receive. This is a very real and important support to members at [...]

ISU Membership Circular 29.5.18 Dear Member,   Hugh Ind The ISU is very saddened to see Hugh leave Immigration Enforcement.   We have had an immensely productive relationship with IE as a result of his, and Tony Eastaugh’s, leadership.  Very difficult times have been navigated with far better results than anticipated, largely [...]

ISU Membership Notice 21.05.2018 - GDPR Dear Member, It can hardly have escaped your notice that the way companies handle data is changing.  This includes how Home Office handle your data, and how we do. We have experienced some delays in getting finalised.  Formal notices and further information will be circulated [...]

ISU Membership Circular 03.05.2018 Dear Member, Blaming Officials for enacting Policy? 2 weeks ago Amber Rudd suggested that members were in some way at fault for what the press has come to call the “Windrush Scandal”.  The NEC sought urgent reassurance from Ms Rudd’s office and from the Perm Sec that [...]

ISU Membership Circular 20.04.18 Dear Members, You will all have seen this week’s appalling revelations about the Windrush Children issue. We have been left reeling in horror at the shameful injustices inflicted on people this nation owes a debt of thanks. Our thoughts are very much with those unjustly deprived of [...]

ISU Membership Circular 20.03.18 - Conference Special *Technical Glitch – Some of you may have received an email from a version of the ISU website asking you to register your user account. We can confirm this was not a spam email but was sent in error from a new ISU site [...]

ISU Membership Special 06.03.18 Dear Members, We have for some time now been reflecting our serious concerns that operational conditions within Border Force are compromising national security while posing serious and growing risk to the health and welfare of ISU members. In our judgement things are only growing worse and matters [...]

ISU Membership Update 20.02.18 - ISU Membership Subscriptions Dear Members, The NEC have reluctantly decided that our Union needs a significant rise in membership subscription rates and will be placing a motion before our National Conference in March seeking approval for that. We recognise this may prompt concerns and think it [...]

ISU NEC Election Special - 30.1.18 Dear Members, Following the recent election for four positions on the ISU National Executive Committee, the results are as follows as per the Independent Scrutineer’s report: “IMMIGRATION SERVICE UNION INDEPENDENT SCRUTINEER’S REPORT (TRADE UNION AND LABOUR RELATIONS (CONSOLIDATION) ACT 1992 AS AMENDED) This report is [...]

ISU Membership Update 26.1.18 - ISU Diary Dear Members, I appreciate it’s still only January and we’re only just acclimatised to the idea of 2018……but already we have to turn our minds to ordering our 2019 ISU Diaries from the suppliers. We’ve given you all an ISU diary each year for as long [...]

ISU Enforcement Circular 15.1.18 Dear Member, ISU Enforcement Sub-Committee Just a short note to let you all know that we are at last in a position to re-implement the ISU Enforcement Sub-Committee (the delay has been interminable for a variety of reasons, but at least we’re there now) and as such [...]

ISU Membership Circular 21.12.17 Dear Members, And so another eventful year comes to a close. There have been victories – the PDR system finally changed – as there have been setbacks, none more so than the continued absence of a meaningful pay rise. We will be campaigning strongly for Fair Pay [...]

ISU Election Bulletin 12.12.17 Dear Members, Further to our recent bulletin regarding elections for posts both as a National Officer and those on the National Executive Committee, I am pleased to report that I have today received confirmation from Popularis Ltd that Mark Gribbin has been returned in the ISU National Officer role [...]

ISU Membership Circular 08.12.2017 Dear Members, Further to our previous circulars concerning incorrect pension contributions, we are now able to bring you an update. The issue was first identified by our Gatwick Branch, who noticed that SDA payments for some people were not being treated as pensionable and so appropriate contributions [...]

ISU Membership Circular Dear Members, ISU National Officer and National Executive Committee elections will shortly be held for the 2018 Union Year. Nominations are sought for the position of National Chair and for 4 NEC members, each for a three year term of office. In accordance with motions passed during the 2008 Annual [...]

ISU Enforcement Circular 24.10.2017 Dear Members, Following on from various incidents involving ICE Arrest Teams, there have been queries as to whether or not IE officers should be undertaking arrests whilst on compliance visits which has resulted in varying answers and approaches from across the regions. The ISU have been involved in discussions with the [...]

ISU Membership Update 19.10.2017 Dear Members, Following our last circular on the subject of Pay, you may by now have seen the Department’s latest Horizon update. This announces that they are undertaking research which may lead to their making a business case to Treasury for a pay award beyond the 1% [...]

ISU Membership Circular 16.10.2017 Dear Members, A short notice to inform and consult you on important work for the future of Border Force, Enforcement, UKVI, Intelligence, and our roles and jobs. We are undertaking independent research and consulting senior managers in Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and Intelligence on the continued and [...]

ISU Membership Update 30.08.2017 Dear Members, The wave of outrage prompted by imposition of the 2017 Pay settlement - and particularly the exclusion of AAA & SDA staff - continues unabated. Pay is now coming to define the distance between the Department’s fine words and their frequently less savoury deeds – it has become a [...]

ISU Membership Update 11.08.2017 - Pay 2017 Dear Member, As you will have seen the department’s pay “award” will be imposed at the end of the month.  The full details can be found on Horizon so I won’t repeat them here. For a brief period after the election it looked as [...]

ISU Membership Update 27.07.2017 Dear Members, You may have seen reports this week of a successful Judicial Review challenge to the November 2016 changes to the Civil Service Pension Scheme. Essentially the High Court have ruled that a Cabinet Office pre-condition to consultation on these changes – that redundancy payments must [...]

Financial Statement to Members June 2017 To all members. TRADE UNION & LABOUR RELATIONS CONSOLIDATION ACT 1992 as amended.   The above act requires theISUto publish annually to all its members within a prescribed time limit the following information. The total income and expenditure of the trade union for the period [...]

ISU Membership Circular 26.06.2017 Dear Members,   Pay 2017 Pay talks in respect of the 2017 pay settlement have not yet resumed post election.  There is increasing pressure on The Treasury to re-consider the pay remit which was released in the very last hours before the pre- election purdah period. There have been increasing calls on [...]

ISU Membership Circular 30.05.2017 Dear Members, The harrowing events last week in Manchester once more bring home the risks we now all face. In a world where children at a pop concert are so despicably targeted, few are safe. For us, our jobs and work locations make us potential targets. We [...]

ISU Membership Update 04.05.2017 Dear Members,   Pay 2017 When the General Election was called, we assumed that Pay negotiations would necessarily await the outcome. This would be the ordinary expectation. After all an incoming government may bring different priorities and plans. However the Treasury released the pay remit at the 11th hour before pre-election [...]

ISU Membership Update 08.03.2017 Dear Members,   AHW / Rostering head of Profession. Members may recall that part of the concessions the ISU won during the last AHW opt in was the commitment to an AHW / Rostering head of profession to oversee the implementation of the policy and to address issues of [...]

ISU Membership Circular 13.02.2017 Dear Members, Finally – a circular that begins with some good news ! We now have confirmation that requirement to rank a mandatory ‘Bottom 10%’ has been removed from the year-end PDR process. The ‘less effective’ category hasn’t been abolished but there is no longer any need [...]

ISU Membership Update 27.01.2017 Dear Members,   Verbal abuse Sadly the verbal abuse of staff is not uncommon.  Although there is an understandable tendency to shrug our shoulders and accept that as part of the job this then means that there are few official reports to provide statistics.  This leads senior [...]

ISU Membership Update 14.01.2017 Dear Members, Happy New Year to you all – we know all too well just how difficult the festive period was for many of you who worked, our thanks for the high volume of excellent feedback received on those issues. Rest assured these will be taken forward. [...]

ISU Membership Update 09.12.2016 Dear Members, A victory for common sense (and the ISU!) The Permanent Secretary announced recently that Home Office will have a new PDR system from next April and the much maligned forced distribution will be no more. The ISU has been opposed to the use of forced [...]

ISU Enforcement Special 24.11.2016 Dear Member, You may recall that a little while ago I mentioned in a bulletin that I wanted to resurrect the Enforcement Sub-committee. I received some interest from a variety of ISU members working in IE and would now like to take that forward by asking that [...]

ISU Membership Update 22.11.2016 Dear Members, Changes to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme Further changes have been made to the Compensation scheme reducing the amount payable in the event of early exit, ill health dismissal and redundancy. This is part of the government’s overall plan to restrict CS benefits; it is [...]

ISU Membership Update - Pension Special Dear Member, No matter how long or short your service it is always the right time to think about your pension provision.  The ISU cannot provide individual financial advice; but members can access discounted financial service through Simpson Millar LLP. There have been several changes [...]

ISU Membership Special 21.10.2016 Unaccompanied Minors in Calais Dear Members, We have been working closely with the department to ensure that all Immigration Enforcement ISU members who have volunteered to assist with this operation are receiving full and appropriate support from the department in their endeavours. To that effect, I have [...]

ISU Membership Update 11.10.2016 Dear Member, “Brain Breaks” In our last circular we reported on what we saw as a very positive development for staff welfare; the recognition that long periods of time on the control without a break impair our ability to concentrate and so impact the security of the [...]

ISU Enforcement Special 27.09.2016 Dear Member, Given the continuing focus on Border Force issues we wanted to assure you that our strident work within Immigration Enforcement continues and to bring you up to date with some developments and issues. Attacks on Staff and Vehicles In our last IE special we reported [...]

ISU Membership Update 20.09.2016 Dear Member, ISU 2017 Diary – Address updates The 2017 edition of the ISU diary will be distributed to all members in the coming weeks. If you have changed address or are unsure as to what details we hold for you at HQ, please contact us at hq@theisu.co.uk or [...]

ISU Membership Circular 06.09.2016 Dear Members, There are two consultations of interest currently running across the Home Office – the first concerns reform to the PDR system but the most recent is a…..  ‘Rewards and Benefits Survey’ The Department are concerned that their ‘Reward Strategy’ may not deliver best value for [...]

Heathrow Stress Survey Analysis July 2016 Executive Summary  The survey was carried out in response to our concern about the stressful working conditions at Heathrow airport in the early part of the summer 2016. This followed a prolonged period of high staff departure, budget restraint, increased passenger traffic and exceptionally intense [...]

Manchester Stress Survey Analysis Dear Member, Following on from the recent stress survey the ISU conducted at Manchester the results have been collated and the report can be found below: Manchester Stress Survey Analysis The findings of this report will be taken up both with senior managers in BFN and also [...]

ISU Membership Update 17.08.2016 Dear Member, BF Apprentices. Our newly recruited Apprentices, paid only 75% of the full salary and on a fixed term 18 month contract,  were shocked to discover that the next round of recruitment which has just started is for permanent staff on the full BFO salary. The [...]

ISU Membership Update 03.08.2016 Dear Member BF Pressures Our last circular on the pressures faced by Border Force produced a very welcome flurry of activity with managers now engaging with us to support staff both permanently at LHR and those drafted in.  Nothing is really going to make this summer much [...]

ISU Membership Special 27.07.2016 Dear Member, As most members in Border Force already know all too well, UK Borders are now in meltdown. Crisis point has well and truly arrived. Queues of over two hours are once more becoming routine at Heathrow, the position at Gatwick is little better, Calais and [...]

ISU Membership Update 08.07.2016 Dear Member I’m not sure there has ever been a fortnight where things have changed so much or moved so fast as in this last two weeks. Whilst the world “outside” might be in a state of flux - for the employer it is very much business [...]

ISU Membership Circular 29.06.2016 Dear Member, In the wake of the referendum decision and the strong emotions that this arouses in many - regardless of your political views - it is time to remind members to be careful about what you say on social media. You have a right to express [...]