Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Lecturers’ pension strikes

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Lecturers’ pension strikes

    Great start to 14 days of action yesterday. Rallies of 5-600 in many big institutions and loads of student support.
    BBC couldn’t avoid reflecting that and filmed the rally and a “teach out” English lecturers organised in a pub in their Newcastle coverage.

    I’m not in that pension scheme, nor are Unis like mine involved in the strikes but we’ll gain from any victory this achieves, and the union gained 5000+ members in the run-up.

    So much for militant strike action being an unpopular thing of the past.

    #2
    ^ this.

    I am in the USS pension scheme, but I'm not a lecturer (nor in any union come to that). The cut proposed to the pension is absolutely savage. Some reports have said 'stand to lose around £x in retirement' but what they don't say is that is every year. And the whole cut is predicated on situations which may not come about.

    What has changed?

    Two things have changed significantly: the returns we can expect on our investments in future have fallen and the risk surrounding our forecasts of these returns has increased.

    In 2014, we forecast the scheme’s investments (c.60% equity-like; 40% bond-like) would return c.5% per annum.

    Since then, investment values have soared, largely because general expectations of future returns have fallen. Higher purchase prices now lower the future return we can expect. Secure investments like UK government bonds (gilts) are offering much less future income (gilt yields have fallen by 1.6% per year from already below-inflation levels in 2014) so investors have looked elsewhere for secure returns. That has increased competition across all asset classes and driven up prices.

    Lower future expected returns have to be offset by higher future contributions, reduced future benefit promises - or a balance of the two.

    Risk levels have also risen since 2014. At March 2017, our assets of £60bn were £23bn less than we would need to invest in a low risk portfolio that gives a 95% confidence of being sufficient to pay all pensions earned to date with no further contributions. This is an indication of how much we rely on the sector to support expected returns from riskier investments. The same gap was £14bn in 2014.

    The trustee expects this gap to close over the next 20 years – largely due to markets re-aligning towards historical norms but what if we are wrong and the gap remains static, or a stock market crash widens it? There are credible scenarios where making good on past promises could require substantially higher contributions for long periods which could impact younger generations harshly.

    https://www.uss.co.uk/how-uss-is-run...the-challenges

    I would have thought that effectively halving the pension of the current employees is quite a harsh impact myself, especially based on a "but what if we are wrong" scenario. More power to the lecturers, and delighted with the level of student support (it could be their pension one day).

    Comment


      #3
      Someone I know was told that if she and her colleagues worked to rule as part of this action then they would get a 20% salary penalty. That;s carrying out your job description. How the fuck can they penalise someone for doing their job? It can't stand up in court that surely?

      Comment


        #4
        They claim it’s “partial performance”. Being used as a scare tactic but as you say, legally dubious. Somewhat moot given the enthusiastic mass strike participation, which must have UUK (the bosses’ org) scrabbling for something to get talks going.

        Comment


          #5
          My other half works for UCU so this is obviously a big thing in our house this week. Seems to be going well, and with general sympathy from those affected (ie students). And it's put a lot of the increasingly rancid university v-c class properly on the back foot.

          Comment


            #6
            I'm hearing about a big spontaeous student demo in Manchester, occasioned by a Tory minister coming to speak..?

            Edit: 'a' Tory minister, tho apparently it was a speech in favour of retaining high fees...not really inflammatory to turn up on a strike day to peddle that, now, is it?
            Last edited by Felicity, I guess so; 23-02-2018, 11:43.

            Comment


              #7
              Good luck to everyone.

              Comment


                #8
                I'm not in ucu or on uss, but mrs nesta is in both. And i know for shit sure that if they get away with this, they'll do the same for my pension scheme (for support staff grunts, but in comfortable surplus, as if that makes any damn difference). And anyway, I'm not a picket line crossing kind of guy. So I'm on the sofa watching the curling semi final at home right now. The Struggle Is Real.

                (I did go to support the pickets yesterday tho, and will be there on monday)

                Comment


                  #9
                  Postal workers refused to cross in Newcastle on both days.

                  Comment


                    #10

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Some reading on why the "USS deficit" is a lie.

                      https://heconvention2.wordpress.com/...mpression=true

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I’m a UCU member (non-academic) with a USS pension and I’m on strike.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Good luck.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Good luck to all of you involved and thanks for the links about this.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Best of luck from the other side of the pond.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                I was contracted at USS until 18 months ago - very good place to work and I still have friends there. I have little to add except my support for strikers and that that Dame who resigned from the USS board over her pay as a vice-chancellor is a terrible person who got paid a small fortune yet still claimed a box of Jaffa Cakes on expenses.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Scum.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    Not even a real biscuit.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Is this just a Russell Group or wannabe University thing? Only just noticed all the Scottish ones on strike seem to be those who would claim to be elite or “exceptional” for historic or current reasons (Dundee for Biotech say). And Stirling. That place just gave off hearty Tory fermer rugby over football vibes on my brief open day visit.
                                      Last edited by Lang Spoon; 23-02-2018, 21:04.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Originally posted by Lang Spoon View Post
                                        Is this just a Russell Group or wannabe University thing? Only just noticed all the Scottish ones on strike seem to be those who would claim to be elite or “exceptional” for historic or current reasons (Dundee for Biotech say). And Stirling. That place just gave off hearty Tory fermer rugby over football vibes on my brief open day visit.
                                        It depends on where the staff have their pensions. Most of the post-1992 universities are part of TPS (the teachers' scheme) rather than USS, and this is a USS-specific dispute.

                                        EDIT: I have assumed that Scotland is the same as England in this case.
                                        Last edited by gjt; 23-02-2018, 21:18. Reason: Bit o' clarification, like

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          Sounds right enough. Strathclyde (60s) is on strike along with the “Ancient” Glasgow, while Glasgow Caley of the early 90’s still plows on.

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            Yes, USS is mainly the pre-92 institutions.

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              Good luck to everyone involved.

                                              Comment


                                                #24
                                                Originally posted by Lang Spoon View Post
                                                Scum.
                                                Bit harsh. I was young, and I needed the work.

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  You were in the film?

                                                  Comment

                                                  Working...
                                                  X