{"id":4047,"date":"2018-01-22T14:17:58","date_gmt":"2018-01-22T14:17:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chief-exec.com\/?p=4047"},"modified":"2018-03-02T08:54:46","modified_gmt":"2018-03-02T08:54:46","slug":"university-staff-set-to-strike-in-pensions-row","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chief-exec.com\/?p=4047","title":{"rendered":"University staff set to strike in pensions\u2019 row"},"content":{"rendered":"

Staff and university leaders are at loggerheads over plans to change the Universities Superannuation Scheme. A move the union says could cost lecturers \u00a3200,000 in retirement, Aban Contractor<\/em> reports.<\/span><\/h4>\n

More than 60 universities could face 14 days of disruption next month after members of the University and College Union (UCU) backed industrial action in a row over potential changes to their pensions in the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS).<\/p>\n

Almost 90 per cent of UCU members who voted backed strike action and 93 per cent backed action short of a strike. The turnout was 58 per cent. A full breakdown of the results by institution is available\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The union\u2019s higher education committee is meeting today to discuss the results and plan an industrial action strategy should talks about the future of the scheme fail to deliver a solution. Those talks are currently scheduled to finish on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

UCU said Universities UK (UUK) wants to transform the scheme from a defined benefit scheme that gives a guaranteed retirement income to a defined contribution scheme where pension income is subject to changes in the stock market.<\/p>\n

\n

Without reform now, universities will likely be forced to divert funding allocated from research and teaching to fill a pensions funding gap. The option of no reform is a dangerous gamble.\u00a0It is a risk that employers cannot take. Universities UK<\/em>
\n<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A\u00a0Universities UK spokesperson said the prospect of industrial action at 61 out of the 68 higher education institutions balloted by UCU was disappointing as talks between employers and the union on USS pension reform continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cA solution to the significant funding challenges facing USS [which is reported to have a \u00a317.5 billion deficit] needs to be found. UUK\u2019s priority is to put USS on a secure and sustainable footing\u00a0while offering attractive, market-leading pensions \u2013 the very best that can be afforded by both employers and employees,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should be under no illusion; this is not a problem that will go away if ignored.\u00a0To retain the status quo would only serve interests in the short term.\u00a0Without reform now, universities will likely be forced to divert funding allocated from research and teaching to fill a pensions funding gap. The option of no reform is a dangerous gamble.\u00a0It is a risk that employers cannot take.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Two rounds of cuts in USS benefits since 2011 have already left USS members with pensions\u00a0worth less than those of school teachers\u00a0and academics in the sector\u2019s other pension scheme, the Teachers\u2019 Pension Scheme. University and College Union<\/em>
\n<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIf industrial action takes place it could cause disruption to students at some universities. We hope that this can be avoided through further talks with UCU and that union members carefully consider the possible impact on students of taking industrial action.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, UCU said independent modelling by First Actuarial<\/a> of the proposals showed that a typical lecturer would\u00a0lose \u00a3200,000 in retirement\u00a0if the UUK plans were imposed and pointed to a move last week by the vice-chancellors of\u00a0Warwick\u00a0and\u00a0Loughborough universities who criticised UUK for failing to guarantee retirement incomes for USS members.<\/p>\n

The union said it hoped that the overwhelming mandate for strike action would focus universities\u2019 minds and that more vice-chancellors would publicly pressure UUK to agree a deal. UCU said it was happy for talks to be extended in an attempt to resolve the issue without strike action.<\/p>\n

The union said that two rounds of cuts in USS benefits since 2011 have already left USS members with pensions\u00a0worth less than those of school teachers\u00a0<\/a>and academics in the sector\u2019s other pension scheme, the Teachers\u2019 Pension Scheme.<\/p>\n

UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said: \u201cUCU members have made it quite clear that they are prepared to take sustained strike action to defend their pensions.<\/p>\n

\u201cUSS already offers worse benefits than other schemes available in universities, and UUK\u2019s proposals would make matters worse. I hope more vice-chancellors will pressure their negotiators to work with us to resolve the matter without strike action.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sixty-one UK universities could be hit by industrial action<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aberdeen, The University<\/p>\n

Aberystwyth University<\/p>\n

Aston University<\/p>\n

Bangor University<\/p>\n

Bath, University of<\/p>\n

Birkbeck College, University of London<\/p>\n

Bristol, University of<\/p>\n

Brunel University<\/p>\n

Cambridge, University of<\/p>\n

Cardiff University<\/p>\n

City, University of London<\/p>\n

Courtauld Institute of Art<\/p>\n

Cranfield University<\/p>\n

Dundee, The University of<\/p>\n

Durham University<\/p>\n

East Anglia, University of<\/p>\n

Edinburgh, University of<\/p>\n

Essex, University of<\/p>\n

Exeter, University of<\/p>\n

Glasgow, The University of<\/p>\n

Goldsmiths, University of London<\/p>\n

Heriot-Watt University<\/p>\n

Hull, The University of<\/p>\n

Imperial College London<\/p>\n

Institute of Education<\/p>\n

Keele University<\/p>\n

Kent, The University of<\/p>\n

King’s College London<\/p>\n

Lancaster, University of<\/p>\n

Leeds, The University of<\/p>\n

Leicester, University of<\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine<\/p>\n

Liverpool, University of<\/p>\n

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine<\/p>\n

Loughborough University<\/p>\n

Manchester, The University of<\/p>\n

Newcastle University<\/p>\n

Nottingham, The University of<\/p>\n

Open University<\/p>\n

Oxford, University of<\/p>\n

Queen Mary, University of London<\/p>\n

Queen\u2019s University Belfast<\/p>\n

Reading, University of<\/p>\n

Royal Holloway, University of London<\/p>\n

Royal Veterinary College, University of London<\/p>\n

Salford, The University of<\/p>\n

Senate House, University of London<\/p>\n

Sheffield, The University of<\/p>\n

SOAS, University of London<\/p>\n

Southampton, University of<\/p>\n

St Andrews, University of<\/p>\n

Stirling, The University of<\/p>\n

Strathclyde, University of<\/p>\n

Surrey, University of<\/p>\n

Sussex, University of<\/p>\n

University College London<\/p>\n

University of the Highlands and Islands<\/p>\n

Ulster University<\/p>\n

University of Wales<\/p>\n

University of Warwick<\/p>\n

University of York<\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Headline photo credit: Matt Gibson\/Shutterstock.com<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Staff and university leaders are at loggerheads over plans to change the Universities Superannuation Scheme. A move the union says could cost lecturers \u00a3200,000 in retirement, Aban Contractor reports. More than 60…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4053,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[160,107,25],"class_list":["post-4047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-skills","tag-pensions","tag-unions","tag-universities"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chief-exec.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chief-exec.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chief-exec.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chief-exec.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chief-exec.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4047"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/chief-exec.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4059,"href":"https:\/\/chief-exec.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4047\/revisions\/4059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chief-exec.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chief-exec.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chief-exec.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chief-exec.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}