ISU (trade union) explained

The ISU is a British trade union representing the majority of operational staff in the Borders, Customs and Immigration functions of the Home Office.^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]}

The union was founded in 1981 as the Immigration Service Union. It was a split from the Society of Civil and Public Servants (SCPS),^[8] founded in protest at the SCPS calling for the repeal of the Immigration Act 1971.^[9]

The ISU is politically independent and not a member of the Trades Union Congress. PCS, the SCPS's successor, sees ISU as a yellow union, as some senior managers encouraged its splitting off, although its independence has been certified by the Certification Officer.^{[10] [11]}

Membership of the union reached 4,263 in 2006, but, in common with all Civil Service unions, fell after the ending of payroll wage check-off (subscriptions automatically deducted where workers have ticked to confirm they wish to be in any recognised union to their employer) in 2015.^[12] It declined to 3,018 in that year.^[13] In 2020, membership stood at 3,043.^[14] By 2022, ISU membership stood at 3803. ^[15]

The ISU does not generally take industrial action.^[16] In 2012, ISU members followed other public sector unions in agreeing to strike against changes to civil service pensions.^[17]

General Secretaries

1981: P. J. Taylor

1997: Martin Slade

2003: Peter Stowe

2010: Paul Duckhouse

2013: Lucy Moreton

2019: Mark Gribbin

Notes and References

1. Web site: About us. ISU.
2. https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/2171/documents/20132/default/ Commons Home Affairs Select Committee: Fourth Report of Session 2019–21
3. https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmhaff/71/71.pdf Commons Home Affairs Select Committee: Fifth Report of Session 2012–13
4. https://www.statewatch.org/media/documents/news/2012/jul/uk-hasc-border-force.pdf Commons Home Affairs Select Committee: Sixth Report of Session 2012–13
5. https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmhaff/990/99011.htm List of witnesses and job title, Commons Home Affairs Select Committee hearing - the Windrush Generation hearings
6. Web site: ISU Membership Circular 20.04.18.
7. https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/marchforchange/pages/696/attachments/original/1620032543/APPG_Coronavirus_Report_-_May_2010_v1.2_%281%29.pdf?1620032543 All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus 3-page findings: COVID-19 Variants, International Travel and Border Policy - May 2021
8. Steve Cohen, Immigration Controls, the Family and the Welfare State, p.321
9. Steve Cohen, Deportation is Freedom!, p.130
10. Web site: Trade unions: The current list and schedule.
11. John B. Smethurst and Peter Carter, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, vol.6, p.450
12. https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2015-03-10/debates/15031024000003/TradeUnionReform(CivilService)
13. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/526119/634T_2015.pdf ISU's audited Annual Return, year ending 31 December 2015
14. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1000498/634T_2020.pdf ISU's audited Annual Return, year ending 31 December 2020
15. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64be22662059dc000d5d2834/643T_2022.pdf ISU's audited Annual Return, year ending 31 December 2022
16. Susan Corby and Geoff White, Employee Relations in the Public Services: Themes and Issues
17. Alan Travis, "Immigration workers to join civil service pension strike", The Guardian, 2 May 2012