Over the last 4 years UK inflation has gone up by 30%.
The cost-of-living crisis hit our members hard and that is why the General Secretary made the decision to cancel all planned increases to the cost of membership throughout that period.
That means that the cost of membership has stayed the same for over 4 years.
By making this choice, the General Secretary has delivered way beyond her election commitment to freeze the cost of membership for 12 months.
But like any organisation our costs have increased.
Therefore, at the last Executive Council meeting, the General Secretary and Executive Council accepted my recommendation as Finance Director to raise membership subscriptions for the first time in over 4 years.
The rate for basic and enhanced subscriptions will therefore rise weekly by 15p for the low pay rate, 17p for the part-time rate or by 22p from April this year.
If you pay by direct debit or through your wages then you do not have to do anything, the change will be made automatically for you.
Please note that to further protect the lowest paid, we are also increasing the low pay threshold for our low pay scale from £21,500 per year to £23,650 per year.
Finally, please be assured that we will continue to do everything we can to deliver for our members while also keeping any increases to the cost of membership to a minimum.
Yours sincerely,
Emma Gibbons
Unite Finance Director
