The University and College Union has declared a “historic victory” after members voted overwhelmingly by 85 per cent to move forward with pension proposals agreed with employers, leaving the door open for benefits to be restored.
This follows a two-week electronic consultation during which more than 35,000 UCU members voted on whether to proceed with further negotiations over proposals agreed with employers, or to pursue further industrial action in the form of a marking and assessment boycott.
In its dispute with the Universities Superannuation Scheme, the UCU campaigned to have benefits reinstated to members. This included a proposal that employers commit to prioritising the restoration of retirement benefits after the guaranteed future retirement income of the average scheme member was cut by 35 per cent in April 2022, it said.
We were told it was impossible to win back a stolen pension, but today UCU members have proven that it can be done.
Jo Grady, UCU
University employers claimed repeatedly that benefits could not be restored and that any future improvements would be unaffordable. However, the UCU said it has “proven the doubters wrong” and will withdraw the marking and assessment boycott at universities in the pension dispute.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “UCU members in their tens of thousands have voted overwhelmingly to move forward with pension proposals agreed with employers, which will pave the way for the restoration of benefits.
“When we launched our pensions dispute, university vice-chancellors doubted us and government ministers criticised us.
“We were told it was impossible to win back a stolen pension, but today UCU members have proven that it can be done and we have taken a giant step towards a historic victory that will change lives.”
No dice on the pay and conditions vote
In the pay and conditions proposals, employers committed to ending the use of involuntary zero hours contracts and tackle other forms of casualisation.
The proposals also included time-limited negotiations to close equality pay gaps and reduce workloads. On pay, employers began imposing a pay award of between 5 per cent and 8 per cent earlier this year.
However, UCU members voted by 56 per cent to reject proposals agreed with employers over pay and conditions. This means that a marking and assessment boycott will now commence at 145 UK universities on April 20 unless employers put an enhanced offer on the table.
Last month, UCU successfully renewed its industrial action mandate, allowing industrial action to be called for a further six months.
A meeting of the union’s special higher education sector conference will take place on April 19 to formally decide the next steps in the disputes.
