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uk

New offer shows employers are wavering…

Keep up the strikes

Don’t let UUK off the hook
U
niversities UK (UUK) have
made a new offer to try to end
the USS pensions dispute.
Our powerful strikes have got the
employers on the run – and there
is now an opportunity to score a
stunning victory.
The shift is potentially a massive
climbdown for the employers and
is a testament to the strength of
UCU’s strikes. But the move could be
designed to stop our strikes hitting
examination marking.
Solid – and growing – strikes have
forced UUK to retreat. This is not the
time to trust the bosses, or halt action. Imperial College London Photo: Ben Windsor

The revolt against their last offer
showed our strength and has seen
calls for the “status quo” (no change in
members’ payments or benefits) to be
UCU’s negotiating position, backed by
branch after branch.
Now UUK say they will back off
from the attack and instead agree to a
Joint Expert Panel to look at how the
scheme should operate in the future.
The current scheme would remain
in place until at least April next year.
Hawks
But let’s be clear. The UUK “hawks”
have not given up. UUK will hope
to use that period in order to buy
time, undermine the momentum the
strikes have developed, and make their
attacks on USS at a later date.
Why give them six months or a year
to regroup? We have got them on the
run – and we should keep on fighting
for a deal that protects the pension
scheme for good.
Retreated
But there have been many examples
in the past where employers have
retreated only to come back when they
feel more confident.
There should be no agreement to
any deal, or any move to ballot UCU
members, unless UUK commits to pick
up the tab for any deficit found by the
valuation panel rather than pass it on
to members of staff.
They could pay more, increase their
line of credit or ask the government to
support the scheme.
In other words, the panel should
begin with a clear statement that there
will be no detriment to staff as a result
of the valuation.
If there isn’t it should be rejected,
and it shouldn’t go out to ballot.
Some people might say that’s not
possible. But many of the same people
said winning ‘status quo’ was pie in the
sky. Many more wanted to settle for
far, far less than we have now won.
Liverpool
Mass redundancies have been
announced in recent days at several
universities such as Liverpool
University and the Open University.
They have come in the midst of our
dispute. It’s easy to see how job losses
and course closures could be used to
soften us up.
We cannot assume that the
employers have suddenly seen the
light!
Continued overleaf...

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 The Joint Expert Panel would be
made up of actuarial and academic
experts nominated in equal numbers
from both sides commissioned to
deliver a report.
The deal commits both parties
to recommend “measures aimed at
stabilising the fund” to provide a
pension “broadly comparable” with
the current arrangements.
“Broadly comparable” isn’t enough.
It should be at least as good as the
present scheme.
Affordability?
The bosses remain committed to
imposing a worse pension scheme
on workers. And talk of “affordability
challenges” gives too much ground to
the false idea that there is a deficit in
the scheme.
There is no deficit in the USS
scheme – it is in surplus.
Now they have changed their
argument to say that it is the cost
of future benefits that has got them
worried. But their projections forward
are also bogus.
UCU general secretary Sally Hunt
wrote to members explaining that
the deal would assess the valuation
of the scheme. And in light of that
“contributions or benefits” could be
“adjusted in any direction”.
But why should workers’ pay any
more – or get any less in retirement –
when the scheme is not in deficit?
In her latest email Sally Hunt
says that “if you wish the union
to further pursue a policy of no
detriment whatever the result of the
independent inquiry you should vote
against the proposal when you get an
opportunity”.
Sally Hunt has also said that it is
“extremely unlikely” that UCU could
win a “no detriment” committment
from UUK.
But at every stage of this dispute
we’ve been told demands like “status
quo” are unachievable, only to see
them backed by members.
That’s why we should now tell
UUK we want a committment to “no
detriment”.
If we don’t receive such a
Photo: Leeds University UCU
commitment from the employers then
we know that in all likelihood we are
going to be asked to pay more for a
worse pension when the panel reports.
That means we should vote against the
offer if it goes out to ballot.
Why shouldn’t workers keep the
scheme they have now? The employers
have had a ‘pension holiday’ since
1997, and are now posting record
surpluses! Why should they not pay
any difference?
The union’s higher education
committee (HEC) will make a decision
on the offer, following a branch
members’ meeting next Wednesday.
This follows the previous deal that
was overwhelmingly rejected by branch
delegates earlier this month – and that
forced the HEC to withdraw it.
The union leadership has not given
a recommendation to branch delegates
on whether they should accept or
reject the deal.
Activists
UCU members are already organising
activists’ meetings and branch
meetings to discuss the deal.
Involving the maximum number
of workers will be key to fighting to
defend the scheme.
And they should demand that
the union does not throw away its
advantage by calling off future strikes
unless the employers commit to no
detriment.
Sending the offer as it stands to the
union’s members and telling them
to “accept or reject” will present
members with a false choice.
The deal can be improved if our
negotiators go back and demand
more from USS while further strike
action is looming.
It would also be very dangerous to
let down our guard, especially when
we don’t know if the government’s
Pension Regulator will allow UUK’s
proposals to go ahead.
Watching
Employers and workers elsewhere are
watching this dispute. The USS scheme
is one of the few remaining Defined
Benefit pension schemes in Britain.
If UUK get away with wrecking it –
now or in a year’s time – that will send
a message to other employers that they
can attack workers too.
It’s fantastic that strikes have
humiliated UUK and blocked their
plans. If university strikers build on
this, they can win a victory that will
have implications for everyone.
A union
transformed
UK wide
activists’ day
school
Saturday Includes sessions
on: Organising a
28 April,
12pm-5.30pm strike • Involving
London casualised workers
• Using social media
Hosted by UCU London region
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