1) Vote Now, Vote Yes
Your ballot papers should be with you. If you have not received them, order a replacement:
https://tinyurl.com/UCUreplacementUSS2018
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2) Employers’ DC Proposals: Not Seen Worse
USS overhaul could leave staff £200,000 worse off in retirement.
See our actuary’s comparison:
https://tinyurl.com/UCUdbVsdcUSS2018
University UK’s position, backed by University of Bristol management, ‘will pick the pocket of a typical lecturer by more than £200,000 over the course of their retirement and will open up a near £400,000 gap between the retirement payments received by academics in post-92 universities, who are members of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS), and USS members’.
Labour Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner has expressed her concern about ‘proposed changes to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) which would leave hundreds of thousands of staff in many of our biggest universities significantly worse off in retirement’.
At a time where Universities are willing to splash the cash on Vice Chancellor pay and perks, and Bristol has, according to its 2016/17 accounts, a £47.2m surplus, University staff continue to receive a rough deal.
Staff ‘costs’ are to be driven down as rule: ‘pay restraint has been a feature of human resource strategies since 2009’.
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3) Letter To The VC and Senate Question
We are producing an open letter to the VC which will be available online Thursday.
The letter asks a number of questions as regards the University’s pro-DC position:
- Why does the University back a ‘de-risking’ approach that would ultimately damage USS?
- Why is the University unwilling to contribute more than 18% of salary given its surplus?
- Has the University considered the impact on staff recruitment and retention?
UCU reps will also be posing questions about USS at next Monday’s Senate.
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