UCU has submitted a claim to end the gender pay gap at the university of Leeds. You can see the full claim at http://www.leedsucu.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Gender_Pay_Claim.pdf … continue reading
Yesterday, the long-awaited report from the Joint Expert Panel was released. You can read the executive summary here , and the full report here. The report very much validates many of the arguments that UCU and activists have been rehearsing over the last year. Given the fact that the Panel was made up half of employer representatives and half of UCU representatives, it is perhaps notable that the conclusion are more in line with what UCU and First Actuarial have been arguing for many years than the statements we have seen from employers. UCU responded yesterday by saying that the report represents “a significant landmark in our ongoing campaign to defend members’ pensions.” Some key aspects of the report The JEP considered the manner in which the USS trustees use the ‘three tests’ to weigh up the affordability of contributions, and conclude that “too much weight” has been given to the long-controversial ‘Test 1’ which was now acting as a ‘constraint’ on benefit design and investment strategy, rather than guiding those decisions. The Panel state that USS had not given enough weight to the fact that our pension scheme is a large, cash-flow positive scheme and that the ’strength and … continue reading
The USS joint expert panel has published its report this afternoon. The joint expert panel was set up by UCU and Universities UK to try to establish a common understanding about the health of the USS pension scheme because UCU believed the proposal to end the defined-benefit pension scheme was based on a flawed evaluation. The report has been welcomed by both UCU national officers and Universities UK which represents the employers, as a basis for resuming talks on the pension scheme. Link to national UCU response We’ll publish a local response once UCU committee members have had a chance to read and digest the full report. … continue reading
The strike ballot opened 30 August and will close Friday 19 October. The union’s national and local committees are both urging members to vote YES for both strike action and action short of a strike up to and including a marking and assessment boycott. To strike we will need to get the 50 percent turnout required by the Tories’ anti-strike law, while the law forbids us from using methods which would make that easier such as secure online voting or workplace ballot boxes. So union reps and members will be reminding everyone to vote throughout this period to make sure we’re not prevented by a biased law from taking action if members want to. Please make sure the details on your My UCU account are up to date. If you haven’t received your ballot paper please check My UCU to see which address you asked it to be sent to. If you haven’t received it there or you can’t get to that address please follow this link to request a replacement ballot paper. Keep an eye on leedsucu.org.uk/pay and @leedsucu on Twitter for the latest updates. Please tell us when you’ve voted We’re emailing all @leedsucu members eligible to vote … continue reading
Update sent by branch vice president Tim Goodall to all members by email on Friday 3 August Dear UCU members, You will have seen that the USS pension scheme has announced it will implement a ‘cost-sharing’ package, meaning that both employers and employees will see increased contributions to our USS pension scheme. These increases will be staggered, and begin in April 2019, when our contributions will rise from 8% of salary to 8.8%. That will then increase to 10.4% after six months, and up to 11.7% in April 2020. Employers will see a similar phasing of increases, up to 24.9% by 2020. The employers’ 1% match of voluntary additional contributions will come to an end. The USS argues that these increases are necessary to make up the ‘deficit’ as calculated on certain disputed bases last year. USS will consult with scheme members on these changes in September. The Joint Expert Panel was set up after the agreement of UCU members earlier this year, with a remit to look into that deficit. We do know that USS’s ‘accounting deficit’ has recently dropped from £17.5bn to £8.4bn, as a result of them applying different mortality and bond yield forecasts, demonstrating how pliable … continue reading