Comprising Motions 14, 15 and 16 and amendments
The government’s white paper heralds significant changes to the UK’s immigration system. It will end overseas recruitment in the NHS and social care for any role below degree level, double the qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) for work visas, and reshape and limit immigration for work.
Congress asserts that migrant workers are not responsible for poor pay or exploitation within the labour market. Exploitation was rampant in social care before overseas recruitment started. Restrictions on migrant workers do not protect against exploitation; it makes exploitation more common.
Congress believes that scapegoating migrant workers for the ills of our labour market doesn’t tackle the far right, it encourages them. The creation of more short-term, rights-restricted schemes risks creating super-exploitation of precarious groups of migrant workers.
Migrant workers have kept vital services running. Congress opposes any moves to retrospectively extend the qualifying period for ILR from five to 10 years. This would breach trust and leave workers trapped in exploitation for another five years, rendering them second-class citizens in the UK for longer.
Congress believes that the rhetoric of some ministers and further immigration legislation legitimise the arguments of Reform UK and other far-right parties.
Congress recognises that the Skilled Workers Visa scheme, introduced in the aftermath of Brexit, has consistently failed to meet its intended objectives. While the policy was designed to facilitate the entry and retention of essential workers to address skill shortages across the UK, its rigid criteria and income thresholds have instead exacerbated labour gaps in critical sectors.
The current framework has led to the unjust deportation of workers – many of whom are Black and from marginalised communities – simply because their earnings fall below arbitrary thresholds. Alarmingly, this includes dozens of civil servants employed by the government itself, highlighting the contradiction of a state that underpays its workforce while penalising them for it.
Closing the Social Care Visa scheme to new applicants while increasing income thresholds for renewals leads to vital care workers being deported and unsafe staffing levels.
Congress condemns this policy failure and calls for the repeal of the existing legislation with an immediate replacement developed in full consultation with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and include robust protections for all current visa holders, particularly those already contributing to public service.
Until such reforms are enacted, Congress commits to supporting all workers facing deportation under this flawed system. We further demand an immediate suspension of all deportation proceedings related to the Skilled Workers Visa until a fair and humane alternative is implemented to lower visa renewal thresholds and address staffing crises through raising wages and establishing minimum staffing level requirements in care.
Short-termism and underinvestment created the NHS’s workforce crisis. Insufficient allied health professionals (AHPs) have been trained to meet current and future demand, whilst terms and conditions contribute to a retention crisis. Nowhere is this more evident than radiography, with staff shortages the root cause of excessive waiting lists for diagnosis and cancer treatment.
The government is investing more, including funding more radiography equipment and staff, but it will take many years to close the gap between demand and supply. The UK is reliant upon successfully competing in the global marketplace for skilled AHPs into the 2030’s, regardless of how many new student and apprenticeship places government fund.
The NHS has pockets of excellent practice but for a majority of new internationally recruited AHPs the offer is insufficient and uncompetitive. Proposed changes to immigration rules are also counter-productive, particularly doubling the qualifying time to secure a right to remain to 10 years, actively discouraging women with young families from choosing the UK.
Congress therefore calls on the TUC and its affiliates to campaign for:
i. a sector-wide visa scheme in social care, enabling migrant workers to challenge bad employers without the threat of dismissal and removal
ii. retention of the five-year route to ILR, and a commitment not to apply any change retrospectively
iii. greater protections for migrant workers from exploitation and strengthened access to trade union rights
iv. a rights-based visa system for migrant workers.
Congress calls on the TUC to:
a. work with partners, including Stand Up to Racism, to oppose the scapegoating of migrants in areas with Reform UK MPs and councils.
b. champion the importance of international recruitment in sustaining an NHS recovery
c. actively oppose any immigration rule changes that make it harder to recruit and retain internationally trained AHPs
d. press government to fund competitive recruitment and retention offers so the NHS can compete internationally
e. assist AHP unions in identifying and promoting best practice in recruiting, onboarding and retaining any overseas professionals.
Mover: UNISON
Seconder: Public and Commercial Services Union
Supporters: National Education Union, GMB, Society of Radiographers