Strike for USS

UCU's higher education committee has agreed to launch an industrial action ballot in the dispute over the future of USS.

They have said serious and sustained industrial action is required in the face of damaging proposals from the employers which would effectively destroy the pension scheme.

• The employers want to end guaranteed pension benefits.
• They say your final pension should depend on how your 'investments' perform and not on your contributions.
• We say it's wrong to risk our members' futures.

Currently, USS pension benefits are guaranteed for all your salary up to a cap of £55,000. Universities UK (UUK), acting on behalf of your employer, is proposing that this cap is reduced to zero, effectively removing guaranteed pension payments in retirement.

These hard-line proposals mean that your future pension benefits would be based only on any returns from the 'investment' of your and your employers' contributions in stocks and shares.

Scheme benefits worse by 20-40%

Independent analysts First Acturiaral estimate that on a like for like basis, UUK's proposal would reduce retirement benefits paid by between 20% and 40%, depending upon grade and length of service.

While the employers say that past service benefits already accrued will be protected, this dangerous proposal will affect every member of staff who is a member of USS, or hopes to become one. In short, your employers are proposing to transfer the risk of providing pension benefits from themselves - a sector with a combined income of £34bn a year - to you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do the employers propose? 

 The employers want to turn USS from a defined benefits scheme into a defined contributions scheme. Forget the jargon - this means that instead of a guaranteed pension income based on your contributions, your retirement income will be based on how your "investments" perform in the stock market.

What's wrong with their proposals?

Research by financial advisors Tilney BestInvest in 2016 estimated that the same annual contributions made into a defined contribution scheme would lead to a final pension worth around 20% of that in the best defined benefit schemes. And not just that - USS's proposals will create enormous uncertainty for you as you seek to plan your retirement and mean that you need to be constantly checking on your "investments". Not great at any time, but with current economic uncertainty, a recipe for stress and pensioner poverty. The biggest sufferers of course will be those just starting their career - adding insult to injury for people already facing casual contracts and poor promotion prospects.

Can the employers afford to pay more?

USS's own research has shown that most employers can afford to pay more to help protect existing benefits - yet they choose not to. This is even though expenditure on staff has fallen from a high of 57.1% of spending ten years ago to just 51.7% now. Failing to maintain this investment in staff has saved the employers nearly £2bn. Staff are a university's greatest asset, yet they are choosing to de-invest in your pensions.

What will be the impact if the proposals go through? UCU believes these latest proposals show complete contempt for staff. They will lead to personal insecurity and stress, but they will also exacerbate existing inequalities within the education system. Pound for pound, school teachers and lecturers in new universities already have far superior guaranteed benefits than USS members even though USS is the pension fund used by some of the richest and most famous universities in the UK.

Is USS really going bust?

No. The wrong-headed valuation methodology used by USS, and favoured by our employers, has created an artificially high deficit. In reality, USS has tens of thousands of active contributors, is backed by a stable and financial secure sector, and any issues the fund has can be solved if employers and unions work together to protect benefits. Yet the employers' proposals will make things worse by encouraging staff to jump ship to more attractive academic pension funds and young staff not to bother joining at all - a vicious cycle in which USS payments have to be continually downgraded.

What can I do?

Whether you are months away from retirement or have just taken up your first teaching role as part of your PhD; whether you have been in USS all your life or haven't yet got around to joining; whether you are an academic or one of the thousands of academic related staff who help make our universities tick this union needs your vote and your vote will really count.

For further information see https://www.ucu.org.uk/strikeforuss

---