UCU members back strikes over pensions but turnout falls short

Union members have backed strike action over cuts to UK higher education’s biggest pension scheme, but barely half of campuses balloted met the 50 per cent threshold required for walkouts to go ahead.

The University and College Union said the 76 per cent vote in support of strikes over reforms to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) gave it a “clear mandate” for industrial action.

Universities UK said the results suggested that support for walkouts was “limited”, with 31 of the 68 campuses where ballots were held failing to reach the 50 per cent turnout that is legally required for action to proceed.

But the vote means that UK higher education faces a fourth round of strikes in little over three years, further disrupting the education of undergraduates who have also seen their on-campus learning significantly interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The latest round of the pensions dispute focuses on UUK’s plan to reduce the benefits provided by the USS in a bid to stave off increases in contributions that it describes as unaffordable.

The UCU has estimated that the reforms could cut employees’ guaranteed benefits by as much as 35 per cent, costing members thousands of pounds annually in retirement, but UUK’s figures suggest that the reduction is between 10 per cent and 18 per cent.

Of the 66 universities covered by the 50 per cent threshold, 35 passed it. Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Ulster are not covered by the rule, and UCU members there also backed strike action.

But union branches at 31 institutions – including the universities of Manchester and Oxford, Newcastle University and UCL – fell short of the threshold. Votes at Cardiff University, the universities of Exeter and Warwick, and Queen Mary, University of London, also missed the mark.

The pensions vote was held alongside a separate poll on strike action over pay and conditions, the results of which were expected on 5 November.

The UCU, which has previously indicated that strikes could take place before Christmas, said its higher education committee would meet on 12 November to decide on next steps, including “whether and when to re-ballot some branches”.

“These results are a clear mandate for strike action over pension cuts and should be heard loud and clear by university employers,” said Jo Grady, the union’s general secretary.

“Staff in universities they have given their all to support students during the pandemic, but management have responded by trying to slash their guaranteed pension by 35 per cent.”

UUK said that while it was “disappointing” that some branches had backed industrial action, fewer had reached the legal threshold than in previous ballots.

“These results suggest that support for industrial action is limited. In most places where the threshold was reached, it was the votes of those saying ‘no’ to action that carried the numbers over the 50 per cent legal threshold,” a spokesperson said.

“The employers’ proposals for reform are the only viable plans under current regulations that will keep the scheme affordable for members and universities and keep the defined benefit section of the scheme open. Discussions with UCU will continue, and the consultation is currently taking place with the scheme’s wider membership.”

chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com

USS pensions ballot 2021: the results

Institutions passing 50 per cent threshold

Institutions failing to pass 50 per cent threshold

Institutions not covered by 50 per cent threshold