Ending the year with good news for (Aber) UCU members

Posted on by marcw

USS pension contribution rates to fall on 1st January

19 December 2023

The Universities Superannuation Scheme, the UK’s largest private pension fund, will cut contribution rates on Monday 1 January.

 

The announcement comes after UCU and employer representatives voted through changes at the USS Joint Negotiating Committee yesterday that will see employee contributions fall to 6.1%, down from 9.8%. For a member earning £45,000 this will mean a monthly saving of £111 after tax.

The change is the latest victory in a pension dispute that has seen UCU members take 69 days of strike action since 2018. In February (2024) the deed for restoration and recovery will also be voted on, before being implemented from Monday 1 April 2024. This will reverse cuts employers forced through in April 2022, by:

  • reinstating the previous accrual rate of 1/75
  • increasing the defined benefit threshold from £40k back to where it would have been had changes not been implemented, at around £70k
  • removing 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.

 

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: ‘This is a great day for our union, for members of USS, and the whole trade union movement. This is a trade union putting money into its members’ pockets.

‘We now move on and pressure employers who are now making a huge saving on their contribution rates. That money must be used to improve pay and conditions for staff.

‘Well done to every UCU member who played their part in getting us here – the bitterly cold picket lines suddenly feel a lot more worthwhile.

‘We will take the spirit and example set by this win and seek to apply it right across our union now.’

 

https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/13400/USS-pension-contribution-rates-to-fall-on-1st-January

 

UCU national elections 2023-24

Posted on by marcw

UCU ballot for members of NEC and other elected positions, including the General Secretary, opens on 25th January 2024.

Turnout for such elections has typically been low. Aber UCU will encourage branch members in the coming months to cast a vote.

 

A full list of candidates and the roles they are standing for can be found here: List of confirmed nominations

 

Branch members are eligible to vote for the General Secretary, along with the single geographically-elected seat on the NEC allocated to Wales.

UCU wins five year long USS pension dispute

Posted on by marcw

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.

Read more here: ….

https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/13247/UCU-wins-five-year-long-USS-pension-dispute

 

 

 

Planned consultation on restricting right to strike in HE

Posted on by marcw

The Conservative party’s Minister for Education, Gillian Keegan MP, has announced an intention to restrict who and how employees in higher education institutions can take industrial action by consulting on imposing minimum service levels (MSL) to higher education.

 

This seems a confused attempt to provoke higher education unions into further industrial action, destined to galvanise members in the same way decimating the USS pension did in 2022.

And ‘Yes’ it does seem it will apply to Wales.

 

Useful explainer from Jim Dickinson at Wonke below:

Gillian Keegan announces “minimum service levels” in universities | Wonkhe

 

Aberystwyth UCU members withdraw strike during Welcome Week

Posted on by marcw

Along with dozens of other university branches the strike action by Aberystwyth University UCU has been called off.

 

Aberystwyth UCU members voted on 13th September not to organise strike action that would disrupt Welcome Week, citing the exceptional pressures on our branch that participating in an action causing maximum disruption for new students would have (most universities are in a teaching week from 24th-29th September).

 

Subsequently UCU national asked its branches to consult members about branch views on the action that would have lasted from Monday 25th September to Friday 29th September. As a result Aberystwyth University has been notified by UCU national that the action on Aberystwyth campus has been called off.

 

Forty two universities that have subjected their staff to the most draconian forms of financial penalty for engaging in lawful industrial action will be targeted with 5 days of industrial action next week.

Members of Aberystwyth UCU will be meeting with students new and old to inform them about the industrial action of the last year and what the reasons for it are and why trade unions will take action to protect and improve the rights of working people. The appalling action of some universities in deducting months of pay from university staff for industrial action will be a focal point for our discussions.

 

Meanwhile another industrial action ballot has just opened in higher education seeking a new mandate for further negotiations and if necessary industrial action later in the year.

 

 

Diweddariad gan UCU Aber

Posted on by marcw

Mae cangen Prifysgol Aberystwyth o UCU wedi cael gwybod heddiw am y penderfyniad ar gyfer gweithredu diwydiannol cenedlaethol ddiwedd mis Medi.

Rydym wedi cael gwybod y bydd y rhain yn rhedeg o ddydd Llun 25 Medi i ddydd Gwener 29 Medi. 25th September to Friday 29th September.

Yn ogystal, pleidleisiodd aelodau UCU yn gynharach y mis hwn i sefyll i lawr y Boicot Marcio ac Asesu ac mae'r brifysgol wedi cael gwybod bod y weithred hon wedi'i atal ar hyn o bryd

 

Bydd cangen URC Aber yn galw cyfarfod brys i drafod y penderfyniad a'r camau gweithredu posibl ddydd Mercher 13 Medi am 13:00-14:15 yn A14, Adeilad Hugh Owen

 

gwirio eich e-byst