More strike action over USS pension cuts ‘odds-on’

UCU negotiator says UUK’s latest proposals are unlikely to win support

Published on
April 13, 2021
Last updated
April 13, 2021
Anna McKie
Source: Eleanor Bentall
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Higher education pensions

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Print headline: More UK strike action over pensions ‘odds-on’

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Reader's comments (3)

#1 Submitted by oliver.... on April 13, 2021 - 8:08am
What a mess. What happened to USS? I'd be interested to know if there are any hint of financial impropriety in the past and whether academics are dropping out of the pension scheme now, given that it seems basically unviable and they can't really plan their future pension income? Another reason to get out of UK academia, as if more were needed....
#2 Submitted by msl_csp on April 13, 2021 - 9:25am
Yes, very depressing. I do think that some younger staff are opting out of USS and some senior staff taking out the defined contribution part. I would never have believed when I took my first academic job that we would reach this position. It was just about possible to live with pay rises that did not keep up with inflation because of the increments and the prospect of a good pension. Slowly, the benefits of academic life have been eroded to the point that it is not attractive to the majority of home students as a career. I do not blame them, the pandemic prompted me to reduce my hours and take some USS benefits - the maximum lump sum is good for investments. I fail to understand how USS can be so badly run because I can follow the best traders on the eToro share platform and make gains of at least several percent per annum. Somehow, USS has managed to turn its surplus some years ago into a deficit.
#3 Submitted by m.... on April 13, 2021 - 12:39pm
The sheer incompetence of USS beggars belief: the leadership needs to be held to account for the atrocious state of the pension fund. I don't suspect inpropriety or fraud on their part, they just appear to have made a complete mess of things.... yet still give themselves huge salaries & bonuses, & probably have made sure THEY have decent pensions. I'm a late entrant to academia, but one of the attractions was that in my mid-50s when I slithered into a university was that the pension scheme was decent. However the 'contract' with them does not appear to be worth the paper it's written on & I am not best pleased. They need to be held to account, perhaps replaced by someone competent at fund management... and who is prepared to honour their commitments.

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