UCU wins five year long USS pension dispute

This didn’t happen by accident. This happened because UCU members took action, made the case, withdrew their labour and won the argument.

News

UCU’s members have voted to end their dispute with university employers over the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), which is the UK’s largest private pension fund.

Pension benefits are now set to be restored by Monday 1 April 2024. This :

Reinstates the previous accrual rate of 1/75
Increases the defined benefit threshold from £40k back to where it would have been had changes not been implemented, at around £70k
Removes the 2.5%pa cap on pension increases before and after retirement which will better protect pensions against inflation

There will also be an additional one-off pension payment of around £900m to help make good the money members have lost since April 2022. The restoration and one-off payment mean an extra £16-£18bn will now go into pension pots.