ISU (trade union)

The ISU is a trade union representing workers in the UK Immigration Service.

The union was founded in 1981 as the Immigration Service Union. It was a split from the Society of Civil and Public Servants (SCPS),[1] founded in protest as the SCPS calling for the repeal of the Immigration Act 1971.[2]

The union has been associated with campaigns for stricter immigration controls; in 1985, it successfully lobbied for limits to be placed on the ability of Members of Parliament to intervene in favour of people refused entry to the UK,[2] while the following year, it launched a campaign which receive significant press coverage, arguing for visas requirements for people from Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Nigeria and Pakistan.[1]

The ISU has applied for membership of the Trades Union Congress, but this was refused.[1] Opposition to it comes in particular from the Public and Commercial Services Union, successor to the SCPS, which has described it as a "right wing 'yellow' union" - that is, a company union for the UK Immigration Service. However, the union has been declared independent by the Certification Officer.[3]

Membership of the union reached 4,263 in 2006,[3] but fell to 3,018 in 2015.[4] For many years, it was known for its avoidance of industrial action, although its rules never prohibited it from taking strike action if deemed necessary and,[5] for example, in 2012 it took part in co-ordinated strike action against changes to civil service pensions.[6]

General Secretaries

1980s: P. J. Taylor
Martin Slade
2003: Peter Stowe
2010: Paul Duckhouse
2012: Lucy Moreton

References

  1. 1 2 3 Steve Cohen, Immigration Controls, the Family and the Welfare State, p.321
  2. 1 2 Steve Cohen, Deportation is Freedom!, p.130
  3. 1 2 John B. Smethurst and Peter Carter, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, vol.6, p.450
  4. ↑ Certification Officer, "Annual Return for a Trade Union: ISU"
  5. ↑ Susan Corby and Geoff White, Employee Relations in the Public Services: Themes and Issues
  6. ↑ Alan Travis, "Immigration workers to join civil service pension strike", The Guardian, 2 May 2012
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